Press Releases: Southern California
December 19, 2008
Kaiser Permanente Awards More Than $3 Million in Southern California Grants for Oral Health Services
More than 54 Percent of Kindergartners and 71 Percent of Third Graders Have Tooth Decay
PASADENA, Calif. – In an innovative approach to total health, Kaiser Permanente is bringing healthy smiles to Southern California children. Poor oral health is associated with many serious medical conditions such as diabetes, stroke, and heart disease. Dental disease is “the nation's silent epidemic and the most common childhood illness – fives times more common than asthma, says the U.S. Surgeon General. To combat the epidemic, Kaiser Permanente announced today that 33 nonprofit organizations will receive oral health grants totaling more than $3 million to help fund a wide range of dental care services for at-risk populations in underserved communities throughout Southern California.
Kaiser Permanente Southern California will present checks totaling just under $1,000,000 to three of the grant recipients on Friday, December 19, 2008 at 10 a.m. during The Children’s Dental Center of Greater Los Angeles' annual holiday open house held at its Shannon Kelly Toothfairy Cottage Education Center, 260 E. Buckthorn Street, Inglewood, Calif. More than 500 children and families are expected to attend. The three grant recipients are The Children's Dental Center of Greater Los Angeles in Inglewood; the Dental Health Foundation in San Diego and Orange County; and the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services.
"Kaiser Permanente continues to provide extensive support to the community to expand access to care for vulnerable and uninsured populations with a focus on preventative, primary, and specialty care services," said Diana Bontá, vice president of public affairs for Kaiser Permanente Southern California. The oral health services grants are designed to address the connection between oral health and general health, especially the link with chronic oral infections and diabetes, osteoporosis, heart and lung conditions.
"The Children's Dental Center of Greater Los Angeles has successfully treated, screened, and educated more than 227,000 underserved children since 1995," said president and CEO Dennis Young of The Center. "Kaiser Permanente's oral health grant will enable our Center to increase our service hours, see more patients, and hire additional staff." Untreated dental disease results in pain, infection, dysfunction, distraction from learning, and may inhibit general growth and development because of associated nutritional liabilities.
The remaining agencies are located across the Southern California region from Bakersfield to the north, San Diego to the south, Ventura to the east, and Victorville to the west. In Los Angeles County, the following agencies will be receiving grants: AIDS Project Los Angeles; Antelope Valley Partners for Health; Arroyo Vista Family Health Center; Los Angeles Unified School District – District Six; City of Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services; St. John's Well Child and Family Center; South Bay Family Healthcare Center; and University of Southern California School of Dentistry at Union Rescue Mission. In the San Gabriel Valley, grants will go to the Buddhist Tzu Chi Free Clinic in Alhambra; East Valley Community Health Center in West Covina; and Young and Healthy in Pasadena. In the San Fernando Valley, grants are going to Los Angeles Unified School District-District 1 in Van Nuys, Mission City Community Network in North Hills and Northeast Valley Health Corporation in Sun Valley.
Other Southern California organizations receiving oral health services funding include:
- Kern County – Kern County Department of Public Health in Bakersfield, and National Health Services in Shafter;
- Orange County – AltaMed Health Services Corporation in Santa Ana, and Orange County Rescue Mission Health Care Services in Tustin;
- Ventura County – Ventura County Health Care Agency, and Clinicas del Camino Real;
- Riverside County – Riverside-San Bernardino County Indian Health, and Community Health Systems in Moreno Valley;
- San Bernardino County – Assistance League of San Bernardino, County of San Bernardino Department of Public Health, Inland Behavioral and Health Services, and Victor Valley Community Dental Service Program;
- San Diego County – San Diego American Indian Health Center, San Ysidro Health Center, Neighborhood Healthcare, and Vista Community Clinic.
The 2008 grant recipients were selected from the communities Kaiser Permanente serves. Many agencies were chosen in high-need areas and because they provide services not covered by other sources.
Contacts for Dental Grant Recipient Interviews: For more information about the grants, or to interview representatives from Kaiser Permanente, please contact Marie Y. Lemelle, Kaiser Permanente Southern California media representative, at 626-405-5384.
About Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente is one of the nation’s leading integrated health plans. Founded in 1945, it is a nonprofit, group practice prepayment program with Southern California headquarters in Pasadena, California. Kaiser Permanente serves the health care needs of 3.3 million members in Southern California. Today it encompasses the nonprofit Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc., Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and their subsidiaries, and the for-profit Southern California Permanente Medical Group. Kaiser Permanente’s Southern California Region includes more than 55,800 technical, administrative and clerical employees and caregivers, and more than 6,400 physicians representing all specialties. More information about Kaiser Permanente can be found at kaiserpermanente.org.
