This year, HealthCare Access Maryland (HCAM) celebrates its 24th year of service. With the COVID-19 pandemic reaching Maryland in early 2020, it surely has been a different year than what we have been used to. Despite being in a pandemic, our organization’s growth hasn’t stalled, and our staff continued to serve the Maryland community.
HealthCare Access Maryland (HCAM) was originally founded and known as Baltimore HealthCare Access in 1997. Staring with just two programs, Eligibility and Care Coordination, HCAM has rapidly grown to 16 programs with a team of over 265 staff members.
As we celebrate our 24th year in April, we take time to reflect on all the growth that has happened within our organization this past year. During a time of uncertainty and a shift to a “new normal”, we were able to continue the work we do of educating the community about health insurance benefits and navigating healthcare and social service systems. Our staff members adapted to their new virtual work environment without hesitation and continued serving over 100,000 Maryland residents when the community needed guidance and support the most. With the support of new donors, including individual community members, businesses, and foundations, our programs have expanded, our reach has widened, and our capacity for innovative events and speaking engagements has grown. HCAM welcomed a cohort of new board members, who bring new and unique perspectives to our team, creating the space for new partnerships and ideas. The Baltimore Health Corps was created by the City of Baltimore and other local and national organizations in support of the city’s public health response to COVID-19. This initiative allowed for HCAM’s expansion and included us in a first-of-its-kind model that equitably provides employment to trusted community members to conduct contact tracing and care coordination across Baltimore City. Most notably, we were able to buildout a robust Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion strategy for our staff and organization that addresses both the racial and COVID-19 pandemics.
With so much growth happening on all different levels of our organization, we are thankful for the opportunity to continue to support our Maryland community.
Want to celebrate with us? Join in HCAM’s birthday celebration by participating in our virtual birthday walk/run and help us to raise critical funds to support our continued work. The event takes place from April 24th through April 30th. For more details and to register visit: https://www.healthcareaccessmaryland.org/event/24thbirthday/
Interested in learning more about HCAM and how we have served Maryland for 24 years? Follow us on social media (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram). Throughout April, we will be sharing more about our organization’s history and program reach.
