Dignity Health’s Central Coast Service Area Provides $295,971 in Grant Funding to Community Non-Profit Organizations
SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA – January 10, 2018 – Dignity Health Central Coast, which includes Marian Regional Medical Center (MRMC), Arroyo Grande Community Hospital (AGCH) and French Hospital Medical Center (FHMC), is proud to announce it has awarded $295,971 in grant funding to five unique community non-profit partnerships in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara County. Representatives from each organization were invited to a breakfast on January 9, 2018 where they were presented with checks to help aid in the critical health and human services they provide to county residents.
Grants are awarded through a Community Grants Program created by the Central Coast Service Area’s parent company Dignity Health. The intent of the annual community grant program is to help non-profit organizations with an interest in building healthier communities by improving health and living conditions. Criteria for this funding cycle were based on the following priority areas identified in the hospitals Community Benefits Report and Plan and Community Health Needs Assessment: Access to Healthcare including Mental Health, Education, Homelessness/Housing, Cardiovascular Disease & STROKE, and Cancer Prevention & Screenings.
This year, the Dignity Health Community Grants were awarded to the following local Accountable Care Communities:
20 Now Santa Maria
Program Description: The 20 Now Project will identify, assess, and provide services to 20 chronically homeless individuals. 10 will be housed in permanent supportive housing through case management and linkage to relevant government services (behavioral health, primary care, employment services and/or income supports and 10 will be currently homeless. The 10 housed were supported by the 2017 Community Grant. Each person will be linked to primary care, behavioral health services, income or employment support, and permanent supportive housing.
Fiscal Agent: C3H/United Way of Northern Santa Barbara County
Members of Accountable Care Community (ACC): C3H, Behavioral Wellness, Telecare, Marian Regional Medical Center and Transitions Mental Health
Planned Impact: Housing and improved physical and mental health will reduce the use of Emergency Room by 50% for the 20 clients identified. By housing 10 chronically homeless people under the auspices of this grant, 90% will improve self-sufficiency, 100% will have primary care, 80% reduction in number of days spent in psychiatric facilities 90% reduction in citations and arrests. Results will be tracked on a quarterly basis.
Expanding Access to Cancer Screening and Primary Care in North County San Luis Obispo
Program Description: Expand access to health and cancer screening services for low-income North San Luis Obispo County residents at a community health clinic in low income housing complex.
Fiscal Agent: SLO Noor Foundation
Members of Accountable Care Community (ACC): SLO Noor Foundation, Alliance for Pharmaceutical Access, Inc., Planned Parenthood SBVSLO Inc., People's Self-Help Housing, and Hearst Cancer Resource Center: French Hospital Medical Center
Planned Impact: Increase access to cancer screening, primary care, reproductive health, pharmaceutical and social services for low-income, uninsured, and underinsured North County San Luis Obispo residents by seeing 200% more patients at the clinic at the Canyon Creek clinic.
Diabetes Impact Group Program
Project Description: This program will refer only pre-diabetic and diabetic patients and food insecure clients who are pre or diabetic (recruited by SBC Foodbank, referred by PCCHC Santa Maria and Lompoc Clinics) to MRMC’s Diabetes Empowerment Education (DEEP) Program in Santa Maria and Lompoc. Food boxes that are diabetes specific will be available to participating clients on bi-weekly basis for six months. This program will coordinate and track diabetes outcomes (HbA1c levels) before and at quarterly intervals, motivate clients to eat healthy, have regular checkups and better manage their diabetic condition.
Fiscal Agent: Santa Barbara Food Bank
Accountable Care Community (ACC): Santa Barbara Food Bank, Pacific Central Coast Health Centers: Bunny Clinic and Lompoc Clinic, MRMC Community Education, and Salvation Army
Planned Impact: The Diabetes Impact Group program will focus on low-income (primarily Hispanic/Latino ethnicity) pre-diabetic and diabetic clients’ food and health needs with aim to improve of their diabetic condition.
Recuperative Care Program
Project Description: The project will provide respite care to homeless individuals discharged from the hospital. CAPSLO’s Recuperative Care Program (RCP) provides 24/7 staff monitoring, an RN, increasing access to primary care, mental health counseling on site, and case management -- integrating medical and behavioral treatment resulting in continuity of care.
Fiscal Agent: Community Action Partnership of San Luis Obispo County, Inc. (CAP-SLO)
Accountable Care Community (ACC): CAP-SLO, CenCal Health, Community Health Centers of the Central Coast (CHC) and Community Counseling Center (CCC) Planned Impact: The main outcomes that the Recuperative Care Program intends to achieve in 2018 with support from Dignity Health are:1) Of the 20 Dignity Health patients admitted to the program, a reduction in hospital admissions will be demonstrated and 2) 100% of Recuperative Care patients will receive on-site RN services, including advocacy and accompaniment to medical appointments to address potential health issues which could lead to re-admission.
Warm Hand Off Project
Program Description: The Warm Hand Off Project seeks to improve case management and mental health services to the most vulnerable homeless individuals and families within the Santa Maria and 5 Cities regions. The project will provide assessment and treatment for mild to moderate mental health clients, along with augmented case management services for homeless respite clients.
Fiscal Agent: Good Samaritan Shelter
Accountable Care Community (ACC): Good Samaritan Shelter, Santa Barbara County Public Health Dept., Community Health Clinics of the Central Coast (CHCCC), 5 Cities Homeless Coalition, Marian and Arroyo Grande Hospital Dept. of Social Work
Planned Impact: The main outcomes that Good Samaritan Shelter and 5 Cities Homeless Coalition intent to achieve include reducing future hospital visits from medically fragile patients that are enrolled in the Warm Hand Off Project, reducing mental health conditions and disruptive behavior amongst enrolled clients as they connect to mental health treatment.
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About Dignity Health
Dignity Health, one of the nation’s largest health care systems, is a 22-state network of more than 9,000 physicians, 63,000 employees, and 400 care centers, including hospitals, urgent and occupational care, imaging and surgery centers, home health, and primary care clinics. Headquartered in San Francisco, Dignity Health is dedicated to providing compassionate, high-quality, and affordable patient-centered care with special attention to the poor and underserved. In FY17, Dignity Health provided $2.6 billion in charitable care and community services. For more information, please visit our website at www.dignityhealth.org.
About Dignity Health Central Coast
Dignity Health Central Coast is comprised of five award-winning hospitals, all recognized for their quality of care, safety and service, primary care offices, premier ambulatory surgery centers, technologically advanced imaging centers, outpatient services, and comprehensive home health services. Hospitals in the Dignity Health Central Coast region include Arroyo Grande Community Hospital in Arroyo Grande, French Hospital Medical Center in San Luis Obispo, Marian Regional Medical Center in Santa Maria, St. John’s Pleasant Valley Hospital in Camarillo, and St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard. Each hospital is supported by an active philanthropic Foundation to provide additional funding to support new programs and services, as well as to advance the community’s access to health care. For more information, visit dignityhealth.org/centralcoast.
Publish date:
Wednesday, January 10, 2018