Press Releases: National
Apr 29 2008
Kaiser Permanente Approves $19 Million in Community Benefit Grants in First Quarter of 2008
Funding Targets Access to Care and Coverage for Children and Families
Oakland, Calif. – In the first quarter of 2008, Kaiser Permanente approved almost 300 Community Benefit grants and donations totaling more than $19 million. The quarter's charitable contributions reinforce the not-for-profit organization's long-standing commitment to improve the health of the communities it serves with significant funding to programs supporting children and families in at-risk and underserved communities. Key grants support critical medical care in California, Colorado and Virginia.
"We recognize that individuals and families cannot be healthy if they don't have access to preventative care and quality treatment in their communities," said Raymond J. Baxter, Ph.D., senior vice president, Kaiser Permanente Community Benefit. "In addition to providing charitable care and coverage to underserved individuals, we are deeply committed to strengthening the community infrastructure by partnering with existing public programs to provide care for vulnerable populations."
Support for the Underserved
Kaiser Permanente's Northern California Community Benefit program awarded Doctors Medical Center of San Pablo, Calif. $12 million over three years to enable the hospital to continue providing critical medical care to individuals and families in Contra Costa County.
Kaiser Permanente's three-year grant is part of an overall approach, including government support and enhanced Medi-Cal payments, to assist Doctors Medical Center, as the Center's new permanent management team redesigns clinical programs and hospital operations. With approximately 30 percent of West Contra Costa County's 250,000 residents living below the poverty level, Doctors Medical Center is a vital member of the healthcare "safety net," providing essential medical care for the community's uninsured and underserved for 50 years. Contra Costa County Health Services is the fiscal agent for this grant.
Health Care for Children and Families Nationwide
Kaiser Permanente continues to provide funding nationwide to support and increase awareness of preventative care for children and families. Kaiser Permanente Northern California this quarter approved a $3 million grant to fund school-based health centers in Oakland's public middle and high schools. The grant will expand school-based health services to provide comprehensive clinical and social services while simultaneously developing primary prevention programming based on best practices in public health, youth development, and academic enrichment.
Other Community Benefit grant recipients throughout the Kaiser Permanente regions include the Colorado Children's Immunization Coalition; Colorado Community Health Network, Inc.; Summit Health Institute for Research and Education in Washington, D.c.; and the Howard (Md.) County Community Education Foundation.
Kaiser Permanente has been partnering with community-based organizations for more than 60 years to improve community health. Today, the emphasis is on providing care and coverage to vulnerable populations, encouraging healthy eating and active living, working with community health care providers to expand services and improve care, and sharing the organization's research and experience with community partners, the public and the field.
About Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente is America's leading integrated health care delivery system. Founded in 1945, it is a group practice prepayment program headquartered in Oakland, California. Kaiser Permanente serves the health care needs of more than 8.6 million members in nine states and the District of Columbia. It encompasses the not-for-profit Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc., Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and their subsidiaries, and the for-profit Permanente Medical Groups. Nationwide, Kaiser Permanente includes approximately 165,000 technical, administrative and clerical employees and caregivers, and more than 14,000 physicians representing all specialties. The system's Labor Management Partnership is the largest health care labor-management partnership in the United States. It governs how workers, managers, physicians and dentists work together to make Kaiser Permanente the best place to receive care, and the best place to work. For more Kaiser Permanente news, visit the KP News Center at: www.kp.org/newscenter.