The Rita and Alex Hillman Foundation Awards $1.5 Million to Nursing-Driven Innovations

The Rita and Alex Hillman Foundation (RAHF) today announced $1.5 million in grants to support three bold new programs addressing the health of marginalized populations. Representing the leading edge of nursing innovation, this year’s grant recipients leverage policy, technology, and community engagement to reduce structural inequities and improve care. The grants were awarded to researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and Penn State University.

Thrive is a novel, equity-centered approach that provides whole-person care to Medicaid patients transitioning from hospital to home. Developed by a nurse-led interdisciplinary team at the University of Pennsylvania, results from an early pilot demonstrated a range of positive outcomes including reduced rehospitalizations. A $300,000 Hillman Catalyst Award will allow Thrive, in partnership with Penn Medicine at Home and Pennsylvania Hospital, to expand to a second site and generate new evidence that could help to establish the intervention as a standard for delivering comprehensive transitional care to Medicaid patients and their families.