Desert Healthcare District Awards More Than $5.8 Million To Three Organizations [Inland Empire Business Journal (CA)]

At their September 27 meeting, the directors of the Desert Healthcare District approved $5,885,000 in grants to help fund programs offered by three organizations serving district residents, including the University of California Riverside School of Medicine, Desert Cancer Foundation, and Family Services of the Desert.

The grant to the UCR School of Medicine will have an immediate impact on district residents," says District Board Member and Program Committee Chairman Sidney Rubenstein. "We are always striving to find new ways to improve the health of the community we serve, and the board felt that this particular request was unique in terms of its scope and long-term mission."

The district awarded a $5 million, five-year grant to UCR School of Medicine that will support the development of residency training programs, expansion of pre-medical student programs and the building of clinical practices. The funding will help provide infrastructure and administrative support for the hiring of primary care physicians who will practice within the district. These physicians will establish a district-wide protocol to train medical students and medical residents, and treat patients without regard to their ability to pay.

Participating doctors will also develop clinical clerkships in partnership with Desert Regional Medical Center, Borrego Community Health Foundation, and the Riverside County Family Care Center, and help build a telemedicine infrastructure that wilt-link students and medical residents at district locations to the education programs in Riverside and beyond. These physicians will also enable telemedicine consults for qualifying patients to specialists outside the region, and prepare students in the district for careers in medicine and other health professions through expanded enrichment programs.

A two-year grant of $660,000 was approved for Desert Cancer Foundation to help fund an Integrated Healthcare Assistance Program that will aid approximately 680 district residents. The money will fund a need-based patient assistance program to support cancer-related medical costs such as outpatient services for uninsured clients, co-insurance for insured clients, MediCal monthly share of cost, prescription medications, inpatient hospital costs, and insurance premiums. Funding will also provide screening and diagnostic services at no cost to eligible low

income, uninsured district residents through the Suzanne Jackson Breast Cancer Fund, and help underwrite case management services.

The district also awarded $225,000 to Family Services of the Desert for mental health services in Desert Hot Springs. Typically, participants in these programs have been touched by domestic violence, child abuse, neglect, or maltreatment. Family Services of the Desert is the only agency to provide domestic violence and anger management programs that are required by probation and parole programs for the residents of Desert Hot Springs. An estimated 720 district residents will benefit from this funding.

Desert Healthcare District is a government agency, established by the state of California in 1948, to improve and support community health programs within a 457-square mile service area in the Coachella Valley. The district also owns and oversees the lease of Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs.