Banner Health receives $750,000 grant to help employees during COVID-19
May 3, 2020, 4:35 AM
(Facebook photo/Banner Health)
(Facebook photo/Banner Health)
PHOENIX – The Banner Health Foundation will receive a $750,000 grant to help staff facing financial hardships during the coronavirus pandemic.
Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust awarded the grant to the organization, which allocated the funds to the Supporting Our Staff fund.
According to the release, applications for assistance from the SOS have increased from an average of a dozen per month to more than 450 in the past month.
“So many of our health care providers and hospital team members are on the front lines every day, without the option of staying home with young children needing care,” Banner Health Chief Human Resources Officer Naomi Cramer said in a press release.
“Life goes on even during a pandemic, meaning the usual factors that can create a hardship for employees still exist and may even be amplified.”
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The fund is designed to assist employees with childcare expenses and hardships like eviction, foreclosure, utility shut offs and more.
In recent weeks, the Banner senior leadership team has made contributions to the fund.
Since the program was started in 2011, more than 2,000 Banner employees have received assistance.
In total, the trust has donated more than $2.5 million to health care systems including Honor Health Foundation, Dignity Health Foundation, Phoenix Children’s Hospital, Valleywise Health Foundation and the Wickenburg Community Hospital Foundation.
