Blue Shield of California Foundation Grants $14.5M This Quarter

The San Francisco-based Blue Shield of California Foundation has granted $14.5 million in the second quarter to help beef up services for victims of domestic violence statewide, as well as to provide healthcare services to low-income Californians.

            The grants are comprised of flexible funding to a minimum of 150 community and tribal health centers. Since 2003, the foundation, the charitable arm of insurance giant Blue Shield of California, has committed $89 million in core operating grants to these providers.

            The grants range in size from $75,000 to $3.25 million. That largest recipient, the Tides Center, is supposed to use the money to strengthen the state's safety net.

            Several non-providers also received grants, including the California Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems. It received $200,000 to prepare members for “success beyond the Medi-Cal 2020 waiver.” The California Department of Health Care Services received $58,500 to support its training academy. The Kaiser Family Foundation also received $350,000 to help support its state and local coverage of healthcare news issues.

            “These funds are essential to ensuring that these frontline providers have the means and flexibility to respond to new challenges, while continuing to guarantee access to critical services and support for individuals and families in need,” said Peter Long, the foundation's president and chief executive officer.

UCSF To Provide Pediatric Specialty Services In Sonoma County

UC San Francisco's Benioff Children's Hospital has entered into a joint venture with St. Joseph Health and Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital to improve pediatric services in Sonoma County.

            As part of the venture, UCSF's outpatient pediatric specialty practices will partner with a Sonoma County physician practice, Annadel Medical Group, to provide subspecialty care on the grounds of Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital. Services that will be provided include hematology, endocrinology and diabetes, gastroenterology, cardiology, neurology, organ transplantation support and nephrology.

            “St. Joseph Health and UCSF have enjoyed a longstanding relationship in meeting the healthcare needs of residents of Sonoma County,” said Stephen Wilson, M.D., the chief medical officer of UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital San Francisco. “We respect the mission and vision of St. Joseph Health and we are excited to be entering into this deeper partnership to better the health of families in Sonoma County. We also share the vision of a healthcare delivery system focused on a population health model of care, with a greater focus on community integrated care and the overall health of the entire community.”

            Financial terms of the joint venture were not disclosed.