FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 31, 2000

For further information, contact:
Susan G. Zepeda
Chief Executive Officer
Phone: 714-245-1650
Fax: 714-245-1653

GRANTS BRING HEALTH, DENTAL SERVICES TO ANAHEIM, SANTA ANA SITES

January 31, 2000 - The HealthCare Foundation for Orange County has awarded "Partners for Health" Grants totalling over $330,000 for community-based family health, prenatal and dental services offered by Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, St. Joseph Hospital, and UCI Medical Center. Each hospital is committed to working in partnership with community-based service providers to increase accessibility of needed health services to low-income families, primarily targeting residents of Anaheim and Santa Ana. Additional support for the projects comes from the partners themselves.

The St. Joseph program, in conjunction with Delhi Center, will target both year-round residents and migrant worker families through use of a mobile clinic, in addition to services on site at Delhi. The UCI effort teams medical residents with University physicians and community outreach workers from Santa Ana-based MOMS, to provide Anaheim residents with needed prenatal care and health education while medical students add cultural competencies and collaboration skills to their medical training. The Hoag Hospital venture teams the Hospital with California State University, Long Beach faculty nurse practitioners and graduate students. Together, they will expand services at the fledgling Casa de Salud, which brings broad-based community support to bear to sustain services previously offered by the failed FHP clinic, including critically needed primary care and chronic disease care in the south Santa Ana community.

Foundation Grants Committee Co-Chair Lilia Powell notes that these grants reflect the Foundation?s continuing commitment to bring health services to accessible community sites. The Countywide Health Needs Assessment issued last spring underscored the difficulties low-income uninsured families experience in obtaining primary and preventive care. The Foundation seeks to address this access problem.

The HealthCare Foundation for Orange County is a private foundation, funded primarily by the proceeds of the sale of United Western Medical Centers to Tenet. These funds are augmented by charitable trusts, created by community residents who wish to use part of their estate to address local health care needs. The Foundation?s charitable mission is to assist low-income families in central Orange County to obtain needed health information and treatment. Most Foundation funds must be granted to or through qualified local non-profit hospitals.

Proposals for the next cycle of "Partners for Health" grants are due to the Foundation offices by May 8, 2000. Further information and application forms may be requested from the Foundation at 714-245-1650.