Dignity Health Announces $11.9M in Grants & Investments

Not-for-profit has donated $47 million in grants and invested $133 million in loans since 1990

San Francisco, CA – January 14, 2013 – Dignity Health, one of the five largest health systems in the nation, announced today that it has made more than $4.2 million in grant awards and $7.7 million in new community investments to non-profit organizations in California, Arizona, Oregon, and Nevada.

"Healthy communities require partnerships," said Lloyd H. Dean, president/chief executive officer of Dignity Health. "We are not in this alone, and to support the work of other organizations to improve the quality of life in their communities is an important part of why we exist."

Dignity Health's community grants program is funded through donations from its member hospitals, which contribute a percentage equal to previous year's audited expenses. Grant awards typically range from $5,000 to $50,000. Dignity Health also offers no/low-interest loans to local non-profits ranging in size from $250,000 to $5 million. When making community grants and investments, Dignity Health focuses on addressing unmet health needs and the underlying causes of health problems, as well as increasing access to primary care. Emphasis is also placed on assisting as many people as possible by diversifying the number of recipients that receive funds – from the Boys and Girls Club to mental health associations – as well as providing numerous grants and investments of modest amounts.

This year's funding was focused on supporting local non-profits that facilitate more coordinated and integrated care by partnering with local hospitals and other non-profits. Two hundred and twenty eight non-profits received grants this year, including Community Bridges, Salud Para La Gente, the Diabetes Health Center, and the Health Access Project of Santa Cruz County, CA who received a combined $75,000 to give low income families access the health benefits and preventive health care services available in the community. Together with their local Dignity Health hospital, the non-profits can offer more families the opportunity to work with a health liaison to navigate through obstacles they may face in accessing health care.

Dignity Health's no and low cost loans include financing to build affordable rental and assisted living homes for seniors, to expand food banks and day centers, to build shelters serving homeless individuals discharged from emergency rooms, and to fund healthy food projects and small business micro-loans in the communities Dignity Health serves. Since 1990, Dignity Health has awarded nearly $47 million through nearly 3,000 grants to local non-profit organizations, as well as an additional $48 million currently invested in local communities.

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