COMMUNITY CARE: Endowment Bestows Grants For California Health
The California Endowment announced the award of two grants totaling $7.5 million to the California Primary Care Association (CPCA) "to improve and enhance the health of Californians." The CPCA is a private, not-for-profit association representing nearly 275 California community clinics and health care centers serving more than 1.3 million Californians. Steven McKane, president of the California Endowment, said, "These grants are part of a series of investments ... that will further our mission of expanding access to health care to underserved populations and improving the health lives of all Californians." The larger grant, worth $5 million, "will provide community health centers increased access to information systems with loans for capital needs, including computer hardware, software, equipment and staff training." The other grant, worth $2.5 million, will fund a program called the Technical and Legal Assistance Project that will offer members legal and policy assistance to deal with the managed care industry. The CPCA reports that it is difficult to comply with the administrative and reporting requirements of numerous new health care mandates, but that the grants will help ease this burden. "The California Endowment is leading the effort to improve health care delivery systems by funding programs that will enable our centers to better meet patient needs. These grants are a great jump-start in an area ofever-decreasing funding," said CPCA CEO Carmela Castellano (release, 3/27).
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