Bank of America has awarded Alivio Medical Center a $150,000 grant to enhance its coronavirus testing capabilities, launch contract tracing efforts and provide critical financial support as it collaborates with other nonprofit healthcare entities to distribute vaccines to underserved populations in the Berwyn community. The grant is part of Bank of America’s $1 billion, four-year commitment to address economic and racial inequality exacerbated by the global pandemic. Alivio Medical Center is a bilingual, bicultural organization committed to providing access to quality low-cost health care to the Hispanic community, the uninsured, and the underinsured, and not to the exclusion of other cultures and races. The grant will specifically support Alivio Medical Center’s Berwyn community by providing assistance in the following categories: 

• Testing: The positivity rate of Alivio patients is currently at over 30 percent at the Berwyn location, much higher than the city’s average of 13 percent. Bank of America’s grant will allow the team to add a full-time contact tracer at 100 percent and a full time mid-level provider at 50 percent. 

• Outreach: The Alivio team recently launched a virtual platform called “Alivio Para La Comunidad” on Facebook to provide workshops and seminars about all services provided by Alivio and issues that affect the community, including coronavirus. Bank of America’s funding will allow the team to purchase new video equipment, which will allow them to quickly mobilize to record messaging to keep up with the evolving guidelines.