Foundation for Physical Therapy Raises $3 Million to Fund Health Services Research Center
Alexandria, VA (PRWEB) February 10, 2014 -- The Foundation for Physical Therapy announced today that it has raised $3 million to fund a Center of Excellence, dedicated to training physical therapists in health services research.
“Thank you to all who participated in our fundraising push last year to establish this ground-breaking initiative,” said Foundation Board of Trustees President William G. Boissonnault, PT, DPT, DHSc, FAPTA, FAAOMPT. “Your support will put us on the road to changing the face of physical therapy, securing our place in the future of health care, and dramatically improving the quality of care we provide to our patients.”
The mission of the Center of Excellence for Health Services/Health Policy Research (COE) is to significantly expand the number of physical therapist investigators specializing in health services/health policy research—including the delivery, organization, and financing of care, and analysis of outcomes.
“We are very excited and encouraged by the enthusiastic response we received during this effort, and we continue to hear from many in our profession who recognize the urgent need for health services research,” said Boissonnault. “The Foundation will continue to raise funds for this campaign to strengthen our ability to offer grants and scholarships, thereby complementing the Center of Excellence. We look forward to working with those organizations, institutions, and individuals who are eager to join our efforts.”
Driving this campaign is the profession’s insufficient health services/policy research data, according to Boissonnault. This is compounded, he noted, by the lack of physical therapists with the skills in health services analyses required to meet today’s health care challenges and to demonstrate the value of physical therapy in the broader health care debate.
The Foundation will award a $2.5 million grant to the most qualified applicant to launch and manage the COE. The Foundation expects to begin accepting letters of intent for the grant later this year. An ad hoc Scientific Review Committee with expertise in health services/health policy research will review the applications, and the Board of Trustees anticipates granting the award in 2015.
The American Physical Therapy Association and many of its affiliated state chapters and components donated to the campaign. Donors included the state chapters of Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin. Donating components included Acute Care, Geriatrics, Health Policy, Home Health, Neurology, Orthopaedic, Private Practice, Research, Sports, and Women’s Health. Donations and pledges also were received from AAOMPT (the American Academy of Orthopedic Manual Therapists), CAL-PT-FUND (the California PT Fund), the Institute for Private Practice Physical Therapy, the Magistro Family Foundation, the MPTA (Michigan Physical Therapy Association) Institute for Education and Research, corporate donors, and individual donors.
About the Foundation for Physical Therapy
The Foundation for Physical Therapy was established in 1979 as a national, independent nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the quality and delivery of physical therapy care by providing support for scientifically based and clinically relevant physical therapy research and doctoral scholarships and fellowships.
To learn more, visit http://www.Foundation4pt.org.
Over the last 34 years, the Foundation has awarded more than $13 million in research grants, fellowships, and post-professional doctoral scholarships to more than 500 emerging scientists. Foundation-funded researchers have gone on to receive an estimated $560 million in external funding from the National Institutes of Health and other sources. Many of today’s leading and emerging physical therapist researchers, clinicians, and academicians began their careers with a grant or scholarship from the Foundation.
Contributions to the Foundation for Physical Therapy are tax-deductible and can be made online at Foundation4PT.org or sent to its headquarters at 1111 North Fairfax St, Alexandria, VA 22314. For more information, e-mail info(at)foundation4pt(dot)org or call 800/875-1378.
Barbara Malm, Foundation for Physical Therapy, Inc., http://foundation4pt.org/, +1 800-875-1378, [email protected]
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