UHC funds two FQHC initiatives through the Community Health Entrepreneur Challenge
Key Insights & Takeaways
Through its innovative Community Health Entrepreneur Challenge, Advocates for Community Health (ACH) has awarded $50,000 grants to Evara Health for a project focused on care delivery in natural disasters and Primary Health Solutions to launch a drone delivery initiative that will reduce transportation costs.
Funded in partnership with UnitedHealthcare, these winning proposals demonstrate how community health center innovation is helping federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) address evolving challenges through novel solutions that strengthen care delivery and services for underserved communities.
Community health centers have long adapted to meet the needs of the communities they serve, finding practical, locally driven ways to expand access to care and improve health outcomes.
For federally qualified health centers (FQHCs), improving care delivery is an ongoing responsibility. And because they are deeply rooted in the community, health centers are uniquely positioned to recognize emerging challenges and develop new solutions to address them.
In 2023, Advocates for Community Health (ACH), with support from UnitedHealthcare, launched a multi-year innovation initiative to help health centers test new approaches to strengthen care delivery and build a more resilient health system.
This year, through its ongoing Community Health Entrepreneur Challenge, the Washington, D.C.-based organization has awarded a $50,000 grant to two more community health centers, Evara Health in Florida and Primary Health Solutions in Ohio.
The funding will support two distinct projects: one focused on helping patients maintain access to care during hurricanes and other emergencies, and another designed to reduce laboratory transportation costs through drone-enabled delivery.
Evara Health: Ensuring continuity of care in a natural disaster
For patients living with chronic conditions or complex health needs, even temporary disruptions to care caused by natural disasters can put their health and well-being at risk. Maintaining access to medications, care coordination, and timely follow-up services becomes even more essential, particularly for those in a hurricane-prone area such as Pinellas County, Florida.
Through its "EvaraReady: Hurricane Continuity of Care Program," Evara Health is working to create a proactive, patient-centered approach to emergency preparedness. Built around a three-phase model — prepare, activate, and recover — the program will use electronic health record data to identify high-risk patients and connect them with care coordinators and community health workers before, during, and after a catastrophe.
Patients will also:
- Receive preparedness information ahead of a storm.
- Remain connected through a simplified communication process during emergencies.
- Receive support to address missed appointments and ongoing health needs once the crisis has passed.
Because disaster preparedness emerged as a common focus among participants in the Community Health Entrepreneur Challenge, ACH believes programs like EvaraReady could offer a model for other health centers looking to strengthen emergency response and continuity of care.
During a catastrophe, “the health center is often where people go,” said ACH CEO Amanda Pears Kelly during a recent podcast. “Because they know that you're going to help — no matter what — you're going to help."
Primary Health Solutions: Deploying drones to lower lab delivery costs
Primary Health Solutions is taking a different approach to improving operational efficiencies, expanding access, lowering costs, and strengthening services for patients and providers alike.
The Ohio-based health center’s new "Drone-Enabled Lab Courier Program" aims to explore how drone technology can streamline lab specimen transportation across Butler County.
"Whether preparing for hurricanes in Florida or exploring drone technology in Ohio, these projects reflect the innovative spirit that defines the health center movement.”
To start, the pilot program will deploy two drones to transport PCR and other laboratory materials between locations, reducing reliance on traditional courier services. With transportation-related expenses currently estimated at around $100,000 annually, the initiative is expected to significantly lower that figure while saving nearly 1,000 staff hours currently devoted to laboratory courier activities.
Beyond cost and overhead savings, the project could provide important disaster preparedness benefits as well.
In all, about half the proposals received by ACH this year included some component of responding to weather-related emergencies. And in the future, Primary Health Solutions’ drone delivery initiative could be expanded to help patients maintain access to diagnostic services when storms or other weather events make road travel difficult.
Advancing new ideas across community health centers
As community health centers continue to respond to evolving patient and community needs, initiatives like the Community Health Entrepreneur Challenge illustrate how targeted investments in innovation can help develop practical, scalable solutions that strengthen care delivery and build resilience.
Since 2023, the Community Health Entrepreneur Challenge Fund has awarded $2.8 million to nine FQHC projects designed to address real-world challenges facing health centers and the communities they serve. This year’s recipients, Evara Health and Primary Health Solutions, are building on that momentum.
"Whether preparing for hurricanes in Florida or exploring drone technology in Ohio, these projects reflect the innovative spirit that defines the health center movement,” said Pears Kelly.
“We are proud to support efforts that strengthen community resilience, improve patient outcomes, and generate new ideas that can benefit health centers nationwide."
Community Health Entrepreneur Challenge grant award winners
Since it was launched in 2023, the Community Health Entrepreneur Challenge Fund has awarded at least $2.8 million to FQHCs promoting community health center innovation. The following five centers each previously received grants from Advocates for Community Health with support from UnitedHealthcare.
Mariposa Community Health Center
Grant value: $500,000
Location: Arizona
Winning proposal: "Mariposa will implement machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) system ... Leveraging data in this manner will allow providers to make more informed clinical decisions, empower executive management to make data-based decisions on value-based contracts, achieve clinical quality goals, address health equity and bias, and improve patient outcomes.”
Lowell Community Health Center
Grant value: $500,000
Location: Massachusetts
Winning proposal: "The Lowell CHC Health Justice Learning Institute presents a groundbreaking, culturally conscious solution that will sustainably address critical workforce gaps in health care. This institute is envisioned as an epicenter of culturally proficient learning, dedicated to training a spectrum of health care professionals."
Columbia Basin Health Association
Grant value: $500,000
Location: Washington state
Winning proposal: "We know many students may feel uncomfortable telling their parents that they need to seek help ... The solution was to create a uniquely innovative on-demand HIPAA-compliant chatbot capable of collecting consent forms electronically, scheduling an appointment with a CBHA Behavioral Health Provider, and/or connecting them with immediate help through the local Adams County 24/7 crisis line."
Morris Heights Health Center
Grant value: $500,000
Location: New York
Winning proposal: "Age Well will improve the quality of life and health outcomes of older adults by increasing their access and connection to clinical and non-clinical services through patient-centric and comprehensive engagement and outreach strategies."
Mountain Health Comprehensive Corporation
Grant value: $500,000
Location: Kentucky
Winning proposal: "MCHC’s RAISE program will allow staff to obtain higher education, such as MA, LPN, RN, BSN, APRN, BSOLL, MSHROD, Pharmacy Tech, Cybersecurity, CHW, medical billing, and CNA. Our staff with no prior medical education will be able to have a promising career within the health care workforce."
