Community
We believe that supporting other community programs and organizations is a vital component in serving the healthcare needs of the San Fernando Valley.
For many years, Valley Presbyterian Hospital has worked with these organizations to identify specific needs and vulnerabilities in our service area, and partnered with them to address these gaps.
It is through our combined efforts that we are able to reach more people who otherwise may not have access to healthcare or are vulnerable in other ways. In CY 2021, access to healthcare, chronic diseases, mental health, housing and homelessness, and food insecurity were ranked as the top priority needs in our service area. The following are some of the community benefit activities and programs that we supported in CY 2021, serving 66,126 community residents.
Click here to learn about our current priorities and how to become a Community Partner.
Access to primary care provides community members with preventive measures and disease management, reducing the likelihood of hospitalizations and emergency room admissions. Yet, in the Valley Presbyterian Hospital service area, about 10% of the population is uninsured while another 18% receive Medi-Cal. Cost and insurance were cited by 62% of residents as the primary reason for delaying care. Other barriers to receiving the primary care they need are a lack of knowledge about the healthcare system, transportation challenges, and with undocumented immigrants, not feeling safe about accessing services.
Response to need and community impact:
Through a grant from First 5 LA, Valley Presbyterian Hospital has continued its free and voluntary Welcome Baby program, in support of new mothers and their infants. We teamed with the nonprofit organization El Nido Family Centers to provide home-based services to Welcome Baby participants, ensuring that parents have the resources in place to follow up on newborn care such as health assessments and vaccinations. In addition, through our Community Classes program, we provided free childbirth education classes to 613 community residents.
