More than 200 Rhode Island children – 75 from the Warwick community – are heading back to school this month with brand-new backpacks filled with school and health supplies, thanks to a donation campaign organized by Coastal Medical’s Charity and Community Service Initiative.

Fourteen employee members of the Community Service Initiative led efforts to collect donations and assemble the backpacks, which are being distributed to patients in need primarily at Coastal’s pediatric and family practices in Rhode Island – Bald Hill Pediatrics and Toll Gate Pediatrics are the two Warwick practices participating in the efforts - as well as locations in East Providence, Narragansett, Pawtucket and South Kingstown.

The backpacks included colored folders, colored pencils, crayons, disinfecting wipes, dry erase boards and markers, glue sticks, hand sanitizer, highlighters, paper/notebooks, pens, and tissues.

“We’re delighted to see our Coastal kids heading back to school with supplies they need to help them have a successful and healthy year ahead” said Coastal Medical President and CEO Alan Kurose. “Our employees are the heart of Coastal and always strive to support the Rhode Island communities in which we live and work."

“The energy in the room was palpable as the team assembled these backpacks. Giving to the community is exhilarating,” said Andi Srabian-Winsor, Donations Subgroup Co-lead and Practice Manager at Coastal East Greenwich & Coastal Narragansett Family Medicine.

“The overwhelming response we received was so much more than we expected. We received donations from all 20 of our locations. The excitement and enthusiasm from every area of Coastal was amazing, and I’m so proud to be part of an organization like this!” said Shannon Boyd, Donations Subgroup Co-lead and Medicaid Accountable Entity Program Manager at Coastal Medical.

Coastal Medical’s Charity and Community Service Initiative, formed in January 2019, also includes Volunteerism and Activities. Later this year, the Donations subgroup will be collecting contributions of warm coats and supplies to give to the homeless.

Coastal Medical is a physician owned and governed primary care driven Accountable Care Organization (ACO) delivering care to 120,000 patients with a team of over 125 providers located in 20 medical offices across Rhode Island. Coastal supports the three-part aim of better care, better health and lower cost and earned an average Medicare Shared Savings Program ACO quality score of 97.5 percent (2013-2017). Coastal is committed to providing outstanding care to its patients by offering 365-day access to sick visits, developing chronic care management programs for its sickest patients, and building care teams that support its providers in delivering high-quality care. For more information, please visit www.coastalmedical.com.