FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 24, 2001

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

GRANTS TARGET INCREASED ETHNIC DIVERSITY OF HEALTHCARE WORKFORCE

January 24, 2001 - The HealthCare Foundation for Orange County has awarded "Partners for Health" grants totaling nearly $725,000 to help Anaheim Memorial Hospital, Kaiser Permanente, St. Joseph Hospital, and UCI Medical Center, to increase the ethnic diversity of the healthcare workforce. The Foundation has taken this step in response to the finding of the Orange County Health Needs Assessment, and other studies, that cultural and linguistic factors present a barrier to care for low-income families. They acknowledge the grants may also have a positive effect on local nursing shortages.

The Anaheim Memorial/St. Joseph Hospital project teams up with the Regional Health Occupations Resources Center, and colleges countywide, in an innovate effort to place existing entry-level minority health workers in local training programs, to upgrade their skills and prepare them for positions such as hemodialysis techs, sonographers, emergency nurses. Participating hospitals are committed to offering the workers release time from their current duties, and mentoring in their new posts. At $595,623, this is the Foundation's largest grant.

The Kaiser Permanente effort teams with Cal State Long Beach, to continue and expand their successful Latino healthcare professionals project, designed to graduate and place Latino health workers in local hospitals and clinics. Rounding out the grants is a small subsidy to UCI Medical center, to enhance their minority recruitment efforts, and provide cultural competency training for Medical School family nurse practitioner staff.

In a separate initiative under the Foundation's "Partners for Health" program, they will provide funding for a collaborative effort of Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian and Latino Health Access to curb the increase in obesity among low-income Latino children. That grant was funded at just over $169,000, will engage leadership, staff and parents at three local elementary schools to identify and implement appropriate preventive strategies.

The HealthCare Foundation for Orange County is a private foundation, funded in large part 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 healthcare needs. The Foundation's charitable mission is to assist low-income families in Orange County to obtain needed health information and treatment.