CHW Contributes to $22 Million Loan Fund

$5 Million Contribution Reaffirms Commitment to Locally Based Community Care Providers

San Francisco, CA - June 30, 2010 - Catholic Healthcare West (CHW) today reaffirmed its commitment to locally based health care providers by contributing $5 million to a $22 million emergency loan program for cash-strapped state licensed primary care clinics and rural hospitals affected by delays in Medi-Cal payments.

CHW joins the California Health Foundation, Sutter Health, Mercy Partnership Fund, California Primary Care Association, and NCB Capital in offering such loans for the third consecutive year. CHW made an initial $5 million in loans available to community clinics in June 2008. With 34 hospitals across California, CHW is the state's largest private Medi-Cal provider. In the last two years, the system's hospitals have established a distributed network of health care facilities closer to the need in the communities it serves.

According to CHW President and CEO, Lloyd Dean, while community hospitals may deliver more than 70 percent of all health care in the U.S., the presence and financial health of local clinics is essential to the physical health of all Californians. "Our acute care expertise has taught us how to respond to an emergency," said Dean. "By reaching people where they live, by creating primary care relationships and by sharing what we know with a network of facilities, CHW hopes to deliver on its promise of better health at lower costs."

The emergency loan program will be administered by NCB Capital. The goal is to give local and rural facilities short-term working capital until the Medi-Cal payments begin. Since the first program was established in 2008, over 41 community clinics have participated.

"Our involvement is borne from our commitment to healthy communities, particularly low-income ones," said Bernita McTernan, Senior Vice President of Mission Integration for CHW. "But at any income level, it is better for patients to get care early and where they live than have to rely on emergency room care."

CHW has a legacy of investing in communities to improve the quality of life for residents who need it most. CHW has invested more than $128 million in nonprofit community organizations since 1992. As a nonprofit, mission-based organization, CHW has provided nearly $1.2 billion in charity care, community benefits, and unreimbursed patient care to the communities we serve, including low-interest loans and grants, in 2009 alone.

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