Washington, D.C. (March 14, 2008) Santa Barbara, California-based Direct Relief International today briefed members of the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) about expansive emergency preparedness and response efforts that it has undertaken with safety-net clinics.

NACHC is the largest association of nonprofit clinics and health centers in the United States, representing over 1,000 clinics and 6,000 clinic sites that served over 16 million people last year.  Working with NACHC, its state-level counterpart associations, and individual clinics, Direct Relief has provided more than $120 million in medicines for working-poor, uninsured patients since 2004.

Precise Information, Fast Response to Front-Line Clinics : This ongoing support program has created a strong, nimble platform for emergency response.  Cregularized coordination, information flow, inventory management, points of contact, and logistics.

Direct Relief's emergency response activities have included providing more than $30 million in medicines and over $4.5 million in cash to Gulf State providers following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Working with and through health center association and individual clinics and health centers, Direct Relief is able to provide rapid, targeted medical material, financial, and other assistance using systems and relationships that are tested on a daily basis.  

This rapid-response capacity was activated in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and several times since then - in areas struck by tornadoes and most recently in late 2007 when wildfires swept through San Diego County.  Following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, Direct Relief's emergency response included providing more than $30 million in medicines and over $4.5 million in cash to Gulf State providers following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Damon Taugher, Director of Direct Relief's U.S. initiatives, presented an after-action report on the wildfires response with colleagues from the California Primary Care Association, NACHC, and Mountain Health and Community Services Clinic in San Diego County, which became a shelter and a staging point for various emergency services during the wildfires.

In connection with the Southern California wildfires, Direct Relief provided over $1.4 million (wholesale) in medical material to more than two dozen clinics and shelters during the evacuation period and another $515,000 in financial assistance to assist clinics recoup financial losses.

Access to Prescription Medicines during Emergencies : Direct Relief is a licensed pharmacy wholesaler and holds similar state licenses throughout the United States, which enables it to provide prescription medicines to licensed facilities.  Medicines are provided free of charge to clinics to treat low-income, uninsured patients - including in emergencies.

"Community clinics and health centers are critical points of access for healthcare for millions of people every day in the United States" said Direct Relief CEO Thomas Tighe.  "They also are essential resources in communities when emergencies arise, as we saw during Katrina and in every emergency since then.  That's why we're so pleased to assist their important work."

Last August, NACHC honored Direct Relief with its first-ever "Partnership Award" for assisting NACHC member health centers and "unwavering commitment to low-income and medically underserved people nationwide."

About Direct Relief International
Founded in 1948, Direct Relief International is a Santa Barbara-based nonprofit organization focused on improving the quality of life by bringing critically needed medicines and supplies to local healthcare providers worldwide. Direct Relief is one of two charities ranked by Forbes that has received a perfect fundraising efficiency score for five consecutive years and is ranked by the Chronicle of Philanthropy as California's largest international nonprofit organization based on private support. For more information, please visit www.DirectRelief.org.

###