Helping our members and neighbors stay safe and well
We proudly mobilized our greatest resource – our talented and compassionate employees – on behalf of public health initiatives, while providing financial assistance to nonprofits serving our most under-resourced communities.
Contact Tracing
We redeployed more than 100 Blue Cross employees, including many from our member and provider service centers, as contact tracers for Massachusetts’ first-in-the-nation COVID-19 Community Tracing Collaborative. Contact tracers call Massachusetts residents who have been in contact with people infected with COVID-19 and counsel them on testing and quarantine. The addition of our highly trained and experienced service center staffers helped jump-start this vital public health initiative.
- [Music] This is an experience of a lifetime. [Music] The purpose of the program is to get across to individuals with a positive covid-19 diagnosis and we reached out to them to gather information about their symptoms and also those that have been in contact with and also connect them with necessary resources to help them been able to isolate and quarantine for the required number of days. One of my favorite experience was a family I followed up with. I spoke to the dad every day and over time we were able to develop a relationship where the dad became comfortable enough to share with me some of his fears worries and uncertainties. The most fulfilling part of my job was at the end of isolation for the individuals hearing them say thank you Felicia for all you do
Boston Hope COVID-19 field hospital
When a 1,000-bed COVID-19 field hospital was built in Boston to help relieve the pressure on hospitals treating higher-risk patients, two dozen of our clinicians joined the medical team. Blue Cross registered nurses and behavioral health care managers helped ensure that patients had the medications, supplies, caregivers and access to nutritious food they needed after they were discharged from the field hospital.
- [Music] This experience has been overwhelming and joyful and amazing all at the same time, just to hear patients say thank you and to know in the bottom of my heart that I did something for that one person. Boston Hope is a field hospital setup at the Boston Convention Center during the covid-19 pandemic. It's a thousand bed facility that's used to house both medical and the respite side, it's run by the military, Partners and the Boston Healthcare for the Homeless. Blue cross has three nurse case managers on site that help with discharge planning, we also have 12 additional nurse case managers off-site and then seven behavioral health clinicians helping with discharge planning. It's important for Blue Cross to be involved because in these uncertain times we're able to help in a different way. Not being a frontline nurse anymore and being a manager I don't have that direct patient contact when this opportunity came across I knew I had to be able to get back to my roots and be a case manager again and to help this population - [Music]
Community blood drives
“This is a time people really need help, and this feels like my time to pitch in.”
The COVID-19 public health emergency forced the cancellation of many community and workplace blood drives, and blood donor centers had to reduce their capacity to adhere to social distancing guidelines. We partnered with the American Red Cross to help keep local hospitals well-supplied by conducting a series of public blood drives at our Quincy office. When we asked donors what brought them out to give, here’s what they told us.
Preparing and donating healthy meals
With most of our employees working remotely, our office cafeterias were closed. So, in early summer, as statewide food insecurity rates soared, we partnered with our service vendor, Flik, to bring cafeteria workers back to our empty kitchens so they could make healthy meals for distribution to those in need. Working with Lovin’ Spoonfuls, a local food recovery organization, we produced 5,000 boxed meals a week for more than a dozen nonprofits in and around Boston. As of December 2020, we had delivered nearly 90,000 meals.
COVID-19 rapid response grants
In 2020, Blue Cross and our Foundation contributed $22.6 million of support to Massachusetts-based not-for-profit organizations across the state in financial, pro bono and in-kind support, including $12.9 million for COVID-19 relief efforts. We donated to those most affected by the COVID-19 health crisis, focusing on essential frontline workers, including teachers, firefighters and service workers, and higher-risk groups, such as people experiencing homelessness, immigrant populations, people living with disabilities, children and seniors. For example, our grants included aid for organizations addressing the ongoing food insecurity crisis, helping with the safe reopening of schools and supporting communities of color disproportionately affected by COVID-19.