HSSA awards grants

for economic growth

Health Sciences and Services Authority of Spokane County has awarded grant funding to three Spokane-area companies, the Spokane Regional Health District, and one Seattle-based company.

The awards are matching grants for bioscience-based economic development.

Remmie Health, of Seattle, was awarded $1.25 million—the largest grant awarded by HSSA. Remmie Health, which offers artificial intelligence-powered ear, nose, and throat products and services, plans to open a commercial services hub in downtown Spokane, employing five new staffers here.

Precision Quantomics Inc., of Spokane Valley, has been awarded a $294,500 HSSA matching grant after the Washington State University spinoff won a Phase 1 Small Business Innovation Research award from the National Institutes of Health toward an equity project addressing health disparities.

Slate Dental Inc., of Spokane, creator of an electric flosser, was awarded a $250,000 grant to help it establish a warehouse and fulfilment center, creating jobs in Spokane County, while fostering improvements in oral health that are linked to other long-term health concerns.

Fire extinguishing product startup Blaze Barrier Inc., of Spokane, received $250,000, to add staff to help bring its wildfire-prevention product to market.

The Spokane Regional Health District received a $47,500 to support its Quality of Life Survey. Information collected in this report is used to determine and guide business and health priorities in the region.

HSSA made two additional "microawards" for grant writing assistance to Liberty Lake-based LaunchPad Inland Northwest LLC and Precision Quantomics, which will allow the recipients to work with professional grant writing consultants to help bring federal grant dollars to Spokane County.

Providence to join

in-home care venture

Renton, Washington-based nonprofit health system Providence and Brentwood, Tennessee-based Compassus, a national provider of integrated home-based care services, plan to form a joint venture for home health, hospice, community-based palliative care, and private-duty caregiving services.

The new entity will be called Providence at Home with Compassus. The joint venture will include 24 home health locations in Washington, Oregon, California, and Alaska, and 17 hospice and palliative care locations in five states.

“Serving people in their home, many of whom are at their most vulnerable, is sacred work and a deeply held part of the Providence mission,” explains Terri Warren, Providence chief of community services. “Compassus shares our commitment to these services and will enable us to expand access to care in the comfort of home.”

MultiCare fund donates

$800K to nonprofits

Tacoma, Washington-based MultiCare Health System’s Community Partnership Fund has awarded $800,000 to nonprofit organizations throughout Washington state.

“Our communities have a wealth of organizations that are deeply committed to addressing health equity, access to care, and the underlying factors that have a tremendous impact on a person’s overall health,” Marce Edwards Olson, vice president and chief marketing and communications officer for MultiCare, says in a press release. “The Community Partnership Fund focuses on building partnerships to address these fundamental needs, leading to healthier and more vibrant communities.”

Inland Northwest recipients include At the Core, Catholic Charities of Eastern Washington, Communities in Schools of Spokane County, Family Promise of Spokane, Hispanic Business Professional Association, Lutheran Community Services Center, Partners with Families & Children, The Salvation Army, Shades of Motherhood Network, Spokane Regional Domestic Violence Coalition, Vanessa Behan, and YWCA Spokane.

WSU to support new

Native health research

The Washington State University Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine has been awarded $2.2 million in first-year project funding to participate in a new National Institutes of Health program designed to support Indigenous communities in leading culturally grounded research on substance use and pain.

The NIH’s Native Collective Research Effort to Enhance Wellness Program aims to support research projects led by Tribes and Native American-serving organizations, centering on communities that have historically been excluded from decision-making in the research process. The program will provide approximately $268 million in funding over seven years, enabling communities to focus on self-identified priorities and solutions that fit their needs.

“This marks a significant shift in how the NIH funds this research—supporting tribes to do the research that they want to do,” co-principal investigator Michael McDonell, a WSU College of Medicine professor and director of the Promoting Research Initiatives in Substance Use and Mental Health Collaborative, says in a press release. “Our job is to listen, learn, and determine how to best support them.”

The program also will fund the development of a Native research resource network to provide participating organizations with comprehensive support. WSU researchers will lead one of four teams forming this network, offering their research expertise to Indigenous communities across the U.S.

VA ramps up care

to Washington vets

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs claims it has delivered a record amount of care and benefits to veterans, their families, and their survivors in Washington state in its fiscal year 2024, ended Sept. 30.

Key accomplishments for veterans living in Washington and their families, caregivers, and survivors this year include scheduling nearly 2.7 million health care appointments, enrolling more than 11,000 veterans in VA health care, and delivering nearly $3.9 billion in compensation and benefits, according to a press release issued by the VA.

Much of the growth in services provided was made possible by the PACT Act of 2022—the largest expansion of VA health care and benefits in generations, VA Secretary Denis McDonough says.

VA also provided no-cost emergency health care to more than 1,100 Washington veterans and provided nearly $515 million in benefits and compensation for 20,700 women veterans in Washington.