UPMC Health Plan Sponsors St. Margaret Foundation AED Program for $250,000
Area Healthcare Insurer Named Platinum Sponsor of Event Supporting Region’s Leading AED Program
PITTSBURGH (February 5, 2008) — UPMC Health Plan has committed $250,000 to St. Margaret Foundation to become the Platinum Sponsor of the Foundation’s annual Fall Face-Off hockey tournament for the next four years.
The Fall Face-Off serves as the primary fundraising event in support of St. Margaret Foundation’s PULSE Program, the region’s leading provider of Automated External Defibrillator (AED) equipment placement and training.
The sponsorship of $250,000 will be used to purchase and place additional AEDs in locations throughout southwestern Pennsylvania, along with providing training in the proper use and upkeep of those units and in CPR.
To date, PULSE has placed more than 925 AEDs throughout the region, trained 11,200 individuals, and most important, has been responsible for saving 46 lives. An AED unit uses electrodes to “shock” the heart of those suffering from sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) before police or medical teams arrive on the scene. St. Margaret Foundation wants to increase the number of AEDs regionally to 1,600 and train an additional 9,000 people in AED usage and CPR over the next three years.
“It’s been a longtime priority of UPMC Health Plan to promote the greater health of the people in the community we serve, and St. Margaret Foundation’s PULSE program fits with that mission,” said Anne Docimo, MD, chief medical officer of UPMC Health Plan. “We are pleased to support the PULSE program through our sponsorship of the Fall Face-Off tournament.”
“Receiving such a generous gift from UPMC Health Plan will go a long way toward helping us move more rapidly toward our goals for PULSE of more AED placements and more training of individuals in how to save lives,” said Matt Hughes, executive director of St. Margaret Foundation. “We’re very proud and happy to have UPMC Health Plan as the platinum sponsor of our annual tournament, and look forward to a productive partnership over the next four years.”
For more information on PULSE, contact program coordinator Dave Bianco at 412-784-5262 or visit online at www.stmargaretfoundation.org.
St. Margaret Foundation, as the fundraising and grant making extension of UPMC St. Margaret, works to improve the health and wellness of neighbors in the communities served by the hospital. Quietly and behind the scenes in many ways, and more visibly in others, St. Margaret Foundation enables and provides many of the services and features that make such connections with the hospital more comfortable and more comforting. During the past year, the Foundation has provided over $1.2 million in grants allowing the placement of 425 new AEDs in the community.
About UPMC Health Plan
UPMC Health Plan, the second-largest health insurer in Western Pennsylvania, is owned by the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), one of the nation's top-ranked health systems. The integrated partner companies of the UPMC Insurance Services Division – which includes UPMC Health Plan, Work Partners, EAP Solutions, UPMC for You (Medical Assistance), and Community Care Behavioral Health – offer a full range of group health insurance, Medicare, CHIP, Medical Assistance, behavioral health, employee assistance, and workers' compensation products and services to nearly 1 million members. Our local provider network includes UPMC as well as community providers, totaling more than 80 hospitals and more than 7,500 physicians in a 29-county region. For more information, visit www.upmchealthplan.com.