Sunday, January 20, 2008

Question 5: Sustaining the Healthy Black Family Project

Q5: HBFP Franchising ? ?

Response:
The word franchise is defined as “…the right or license granted to an individual or group to market a company's goods or services in a particular territory”
http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/franchise

Sustaining the Healthy Black Family Project is critical. I am working on several options including, but not limited to, creation of a “franchise.” Franchise is one of several options I am exploring to find the best way to sustain the Healthy Black Family Project. The cost of operating the HBFP is over one million dollars per year. As you know the program is “NO CHARGE” to the over 6,000 participants. We benefit from grants by local and national foundations and the NIH as well as donations. We are now in the middle of a one million dollar fund raising campaign (click below).

http://www.cmh.pitt.edu/news_102307.asp

My aim is that before we reach the 2010 deadline we will have a viable sustainability plan to keep HBFP going on into the future and spreading across the nation. Franchise is only one idea. Other ideas include service contracts with Highmark, UPMC Health Plan, Gateway Health Plan and other insurance companies that would actually fund CMH to deliver HBFP to their members. Another idea is to produce health education content in the form of DVDs and TV shows that would generate income to support the HBFP.

There are many more ideas that we must consider and I am open to any and all ideas for how to sustain the program.

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