The San Francisco-based Blue Shield of California Foundation has announced nearly $6 million in grants to thirty-three nonprofit organizations working to increase healthcare access for the uninsured, prevent domestic violence, and improve public health through the use of technology.

Twenty-nine California organizations will receive more than $4.3 million, while four national groups will receive nearly $1.7 million for California-related projects. Among the grants announced was a $1 million award to the San Francisco-based Tides Foundation to advance the technology capacity of community clinics and improve the quality of health care in low- income communities; $1.2 million to the New America Foundation, a D.C.-based think tank, to conduct state and national policy research on healthcare issues and convene a CEO summit on health care; and $1 million to launch BSCF's Healthcare Infection Prevention Program, a first-ever statewide project to help up to ten hospitals use new technology to dramatically reduce the rate of hospital-borne infections, a problem that results in 9,000 deaths in California annually.

"These grants come at a critical time, when both the state and the nation are weighing budget and social priorities," said BSCF president Crystal Hayling. "We at the Blue Shield of California Foundation are committed to the health and well-being of our communities and encourage other stakeholders to prioritize this type of social investment."