August 23, 2010
MERCY AND MERCY FOUNDATION AWARDED GRANT FOR VIOLENCE PREVENTION INITIATIVE

Mercy Medical Center and Mercy Foundation have been awarded a $63,000 planning grant to support a violence prevention initiative that establishes a community-based Child Abuse Prevention Consortium.

The grant is provided by the Mission and Ministry Fund of Catholic Health Initiatives, the national health care system that includes Mercy Medical Center and Mercy Foundation.

Established in 1996 by the health system's founding congregations, the Mission and Ministry Fund has awarded 273 grants totaling more than $33 million to programs across the globe. The fund was established through contributions from Catholic Health Initiatives' facilities across the nation.

The Child Abuse Prevention Consortium will serve Douglas County, but also contribute to Catholic Health Initiatives' systemwide initiative to prevent violence in every community the health care system serves.

"Every child has the right to health and a life free from violence," says Kelly Morgan, Mercy's President and CEO. "However, we know that hundreds of children in our own community are victims of physical, sexual and emotional violence. This is why Mercy, CHI and our partners in prevention have made violence prevention - including domestic violence, chid and elder abuse, gun violence and school violence - a systemwide priority."

According to Dr. Marcia Hall, head of Women Veterans Programs at the Roseburg VA and consultant for the Child Abuse Prevention Consortium, "Child maltreatment is a widespread problem with a serious impact on the victims' physical and mental health, well-being and development throughout their lives - and, by extension, on society in general. We all have a role to play in ending violence against children; this consortium is a positive step forward to achieving that goal."

For more information, please contact Kathleen Nickel at 541-677-2423 or Lisa Platt at 541-677-6545.

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