Needy residents have received a health care boost from a nearly $5 million grant from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center to bolster local community clinics and mental health agencies.
The grant, announced last week, aims to strengthen the social safety net for homeless, at-risk youth, immigrants and other underserved groups across the region.
“Hundreds of thousands of people in Los Angeles receive care at community health centers,” Jonathan Schreiber, director of community engagement at Cedars-Sinai, said in a statement. “We believe we can impact the efficiency and quality of care given to L.A.’s most vulnerable populations with ongoing support for local health care institutions.”
The Cedars-Sinai Community Clinic Initiative, in its third year, supports community clinics by beefing up their financial, administrative and leadership effectiveness, hospital officials said.
Its goal: to increase access and reduce disparities for those in need of health care services.
The $4.8 million grant will be spread among 58 L.A. community health care clinics, and mental health and nonprofit agencies.
The recipients include 16 health clinics, such as Achievable Foundation, a health center that cares for those with developmental disabilities in Culver City; the Los Angeles Christian Health Centers, whose Joshua House clinic cares for homeless residents downtown; and the Korean Health, Education, Information & Research Center in Koreatown.
They also include 13 mental health service agencies that treat uninsured and undocumented patients with therapy and medication unavailable through other means.
Beneficiaries include the Los Angeles LGBT Center and its domestic violence prevention program as well as Amanecer Community Counseling Services, which supports low-income Latino parents and kids.
Funds were also given to 29 nonprofits, including Step Up on Second; the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles; March of Dimes and the United Way, whose Home for Good program aims to reduce chronic homelessness.
The community clinic initiative invests strategically in communitywide efforts to improve quality health care, financial benchmarking, leadership and data analysis, hospital officials said.
Cedars-Sinai officials said that during a period of health care uncertainty, the role of community clinics has grown.
“These efforts on the part of Cedars-Sinai take us back to our roots in 1902 as a community hospital serving a vulnerable population with the intent, then as now, to provide health care, support and services to those who need it most,” said Art Ochoa, a senior vice president in charge of development and community relations.
