SEATTLE, February 13, 2013 -- Today the Pacific Hospital Preservation & Development Authority announced a grant renewal for $150,000 awarded to Project Access Northwest for 2013.

The Pacific Hospital PDA was a founding funder of Project Access Northwest in 2006, when the organization began as King County Project Access. Since then, Pacific Hospital PDA has provided essential core funding totaling more than $1 million for the agency. The grant will provide continued support for Project Access NW's case management for low-income uninsured patients referred from safety net clinics to volunteer specialists in King County.

"The Pacific Hospital PDA fine-tuned the 2012-2015 goals in our strategic plan last year. We aim to decrease disparities in access to health resources and improve the health outcomes of vulnerable populations by increasing the capability of the health care system," explains Rosemary Aragon, the Pacific Hospital PDA executive director. "Providing increased access to specialty medical care for uninsured patients through Project Access NW advances our goal of decreasing disparities in access to resources. We're pleased to continue our support."

With the support of the Pacific Hospital PDA and other organizations, Project Access NW served more than 4500 patients through a network of more than 1100 volunteer specialty providers in 2012. It has also expanded into Snohomish and Kitsap counties.

The Pacific Hospital Preservation & Development Authority partners with community organizations to improve access to health care services in Seattle/King County.

In 1981, the City of Seattle chartered the Pacific Hospital PDA, placing in its trust the Pacific Hospital and surrounding campus, a historic Seattle landmark. The Pacific Hospital PDA leases the property. The lease revenues are used to increase access to health resources and to improve health outcomes in King County.