Eleven new grants support safety-net organizations across the Bay Area - including those in Fremont, Newark and Union City - as they increase access to community and public resources
Kaiser Permanente is supporting 11 community clinics across Northern California to increase their ability to connect patients to important community and public resources, including food banks, job training programs, and homeless and domestic violence shelters. The grants also will enable the clinics to screen patients for public benefit programs such as CalFresh/SNAP food stamps, Earned Income Tax Credit, and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program.
Clinics will help their patients learn about these programs, determine if they are eligible, and navigate the enrollment and renewal processes for them.
“Kaiser Permanente is committed to keeping people healthy—and health means much more than just health care,” said Dr. David Shearn, director of Physician Education and Development and Community Benefit physician liaison for Kaiser Permanente Northern California.
“It's also healthy food, safe places to live, a job to support one's family,” Shearn said. “When people have their essential needs met, the whole community benefits, and community clinics offer a trusted place for people to access these essential services. Kaiser Permanente is proud to support the safety net in this work, which helps create better health for all.”
In Fremont, Newark and Union City, the Tri-City Health Center will use the grant to help Tri-City’s pregnant population gain better access to community resources.
“Tri-City Health Center recognizes that health does not exist in a vacuum and as a community clinic we offer much more than health care services,” said Pam Kitagawa, manager of Teen and Women’s Programs at Tri-City Health Center in Fremont.
“Through this program, our goal is to improve the outcomes of our low-income prenatal patients by ensuring they have access to the programs and services they need to improve their lives,” Kitagawa said. “By helping them address other challenges in their lives, we are enabling them to focus on their prenatal care without worrying about how to put food on the table or when their next paycheck will come. As a result, we expect to see an increase in care satisfaction as well as increased levels of retention in care, both of which combine to lead to improved health outcomes for both mother and infant.”
In clinics in southern Alameda County and Contra Costa County, La Clinica de La Raza will launch a project to increase access to public benefit programs, community resources, and public health insurance options.
The full list of recipients of the $60,000, one-year grants:
- Curry Senior Center (San Francisco)
- North East Medical Services (San Francisco, Daly City, San Jose)
- Ravenswood Family Health Center (San Mateo County)
- Gardner Family Health Network (San Jose, Santa Clara, Gilroy)
- La Clinica de la Raza (Alameda, Contra Costa County, and Solano Counties)
- LifeLong Medical Care (Alameda County)
- Tri-City Health Center (Fremont, Newark, Union City)
- Petaluma Health Center (Petaluma area)
- Midtown Medical Center for Children and Families (Sacramento)
- Sacramento Native American Health Center (Sacramento area)
- United Health Centers of the San Joaquin Valley (San Joaquin Valley)
About Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America’s leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, our mission is to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We currently serve more than 9 million members in nine states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the-art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community health. For more information, go to: kp.org/newscenter.
