California nonprofits receive over $5.7 M in healthcare grants

UnitedHealth Group and PacifiCare awarded more than $5.7 million in healthcare grants to California nonprofits to enhance information technology, education, prevention and coordinated care throughout the state.

UnitedHealth Group is a health and well-being company based in Minneapolis. PacifiCare, which is based in Cypress, Calif., is a United Healthcare Company, which is an operating division of UnitedHealth Group.

The grants are part of a $25 million commitment to California by UnitedHealth Group and PacifiCare.

The grants were awarded to 13 California nonprofits:

• Asian Pacific Health Care Venture, Inc., of Los Angeles, received a $299,393 grant to enhance technology for business continuity and electronic health records;
• Bienvenidos Children's Center, Inc., of Los Angeles, received a $105,194 grant to purchase IT equipment that will enhance service and recordkeeping;
• Breathe California-Golden Gate Public Health Partnership, of Daly City, received a $300,471 grant to develop clinical asthma education and tools for healthcare providers serving Sonoma, Napa and Mendocino county residents;
• California Dental Association Foundation, of Sacramento, received a $500,000 grant to enhance its research network that will provide dental care to 900 patients in the San Francisco Bay area, Southern California and Central Valley regions;
• California Rural Indian Health Board, Inc., of Sacramento, received a $427,987 grant to enhance electronic health records in tribally operated health programs;
• Fresno-based Hospital Council of Northern & Central California received a $560,000 grant to support the Santa Clara Valley medical respite program that helps homeless patients after being discharged from the hospital;
• The Institute for Palliative Medicine, of San Diego, received a $1,203,547 grant to help develop, implement and evaluate palliative care telehealth consultation services;
• La Maestra Community Health Centers, of San Diego, received a $164,123 grant to implement a culturally and linguistically sensitive lifestyle-modification program targeting low-income, immigrant and minority residents in the central region of San Diego;
• Nurse-Family Partnership, of Oakland, received a $500,000 grant for a community health program that helps mothers pregnant with their first child by partnering with a registered nurse early in pregnancy and receiving ongoing nurse home visits through the child's second birthday;
• City of Industry-based Public Health Foundation Enterprises, Inc., received a $1,304,943 grant to improve coordination and delivery of healthcare for vulnerable populations throughout Los Angeles County via the Los Angeles County Safety Net Health Information Exchange Project;
• St. Vincent Medical Center, of Los Angeles, received a $465,704 grant to expand its Hepatitis Intervention Project and increase Hepatitis B screening and treatment;
• Sharp Grossmont Hospital's Senior Resource Center, of La Mesa, received a $140,000 grant for technology to enhance outreach to seniors age 65 and over and their caregivers throughout East San Diego County;
• Women's Community Clinic, of San Francisco, received a $164,360 grant to help provide free reproductive health services, health training programs and technology upgrades.

"UnitedHealth Group and PacifiCare are committed to investing in a healthier California," said Steve Nelson, the Western Region CEO for UnitedHealthcare. "We do this by offering products and services that address access to quality healthcare for all Californians, and also through grants to diverse community health organizations statewide that will help improve the healthcare delivery system for everyone, including underserved populations."

The grants represent the third phase of proposal applications, which were received in August 2008. In January 2008, 15 nonprofit organizations statewide were awarded more than $6 million in grants; in June 2008, 12 nonprofit organizations statewide were awarded more than 6.2 million.

The fourth and final phase of the grant-application process began Jan. 5, 2009, and ends Feb. 20, 2009.