Health

Through grants in this area, The Parsons Foundation seeks to increase access to health care for the disadvantaged, and provide funding for improvements at area health care facilities.

Organizations receiving recent grants include:

• Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Health Foundation provides support for the Newhall Memorial Hospital. The hospital offers the only 24-hour emergency service available in the Santa Clarita Valley and is expected to see a 20% increase in its patient load over the next five years. A Foundation grant is helping to remodel and increase the size of the emergency room, adding space for additional beds.
  
  
• Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, one of the nation’s leading centers for pediatric medicine. The hospital’s researchers have pioneered methods of treating cancerous tumors with radiation that avoids damage to surrounding tissue. This gives children a much better chance of being cured of cancer and spares them some of the ill effects of radiation treatment. A Foundation grant will purchase newly developed software that enhances this treatment.
  
  
• Clinica Monsignor Oscar Romero, a state-licensed free clinic in the Pico-Union/Westlake area that primarily serves immigrants from Central America and Mexico. About 70% of the clinic’s patients are women who work full-time at low-wage jobs but receive no health benefits from their employers. Although the clinic has numerous government contracts for services, low government reimbursement rates result in a $62 gap in the clinic’s direct cost for each patient visit. A Foundation grant will allow the clinic to hire a Development Director to raise outside funds.
  
  
• St. John’s Well Child Center, a community-based health clinic that recently opened a satellite facility in Compton, one of the poorest cities in the county. St. John’s provides free primary and preventive medical and dental care — a critical need in Compton, where more than 70% of residents live below the federal poverty level. A Foundation grant will enable the center to expand the clinic’s business hours from three days to five days per week.
  
  
• Westside Women’s Health Center, a multiservice health care organization in Santa Monica that provides free or low-cost services to over 8,000 patients each year. A Foundation grant is helping to support a walk-in clinic, educational outreach at area schools, and an informal “Street Outreach” program for youth who are no longer in school.