Newsroom | News Releases

City Care awarded Blue Impact℠  grant to help a growing need for medical respite care for those experiencing homelessness

TULSA, Okla. — A short time ago, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma (BCBSOK) awarded $935,000 in Blue Impact grants to 27 nonprofits addressing the social and economic factors that play a role in health and wellness across Oklahoma.

One of these organizations, City Care, is helping fill the need for medical respite care for individuals who experience homelessness. From 2020-2022, 13,000 individuals were discharged from hospitals and released to the streets and shelters of Oklahoma. City Care is in phase one of a capital campaign to build a medical respite facility next to their low-barrier Night Shelter to help address this unmet need in Oklahoma City. This Blue Impact grant will help bolster these efforts to provide basic medical care to discharged individuals who enter the Night Shelter. Until the respite facility is opened, this grant will help provide needed supplies to enable the staff to meet post-acute care needs so individuals do not have to be re-hospitalized or navigate their medical care while on the streets.

“Opening a medical respite facility next to the Night Shelter will bridge the gap in the continuum of care for our most vulnerable neighbors and offer hospitals an alternative to keeping patients experiencing homelessness longer than medically necessary or discharging them to the streets or shelters,” said Adam Luck, CEO of City Care. “Receiving the Blue Impact grant from BCBS gives us the financial margin to purchase medical supplies not in our operating budget and continue to provide low-barrier shelter, an unduplicated service, in Oklahoma City. We are so grateful to Blue Cross and Blue Shield for their committed partnership."

Since 2011, Blue Impact grants, formerly known as Healthy Kids, Healthy Families®, have supported nonprofits that provide a variety of health-related services with proven, sustainable and measurable programs. The funding supports programs that reach children and their families in five key areas: economic opportunity and stability, neighborhood and built environment, nutrition, locally defined health solutions, and optimal health outcomes. 

###

About Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma is the only statewide customer-owned health insurer in Oklahoma. We believe Oklahoma consumers and employers deserve the best of both worlds: access to affordable, quality health care and top-notch service from a company that focuses solely on customers, not shareholders. Customer value is our cornerstone. We are proud of the work we have done within our communities by helping to change the way we all live. Thanks to our more than 800,000 members, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma is able to focus on the health issues that impact our members as well as all Oklahomans.

Media Contact

Jenny Lee
918-724-6082
Jenny_Lee@bcbsok.com