Priority Healthcare Issues in Our Community • Mental health services that are affordable and accessible, especially
for children, older adults, homeless, veterans and undocumented.
• Affordable and portable health insurance and providing access for
undocumented individuals.
• Permanent supportive and affordable housing including more
Section 8 housing and emergency shelter beds.
• Chronic disease management and prevention with a focus on diabetes,
hypertension, obesity and asthma.
• Dental health services that are affordable and accessible especially
for adults, seniors and low-income children.
Emergency Room Upgrades Technology to Increase Health Care Efficiency Providence Holy Cross Medical Center has embarked on a technology upgrade, funded by a $500,000 grant from Verizon that will improve the hospital’s efficiency, increase accuracy of patient records and initiate health care outreach for uninsured Californians. The two-year grant - awarded by the Verizon Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Verizon Communications - was announced in early 2010 at a reception attended by Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes, retired Assemblyman Keith Richman, M.D., and executives from Providence Health & Services, Southern California region, which operates the medical center. Verizon’s generosity will help take Providence Holy Cross Medical Center into the future. And with our entire nation so focused on health care, this gift is a shining illustration of how private enterprise can work with healthcare providers in reaching out to those most in need. The grant will fund a kiosk in the hospital’s busy emergency room where patients will check themselves in, following instructions in either English or Spanish. The system will reduce the time people wait for treatment, increase the accuracy of medical records and alert the staff to the most urgent cases so they are treated immediately. The grant also will establish an outreach program to help uninsured patients find cost-effective primary health alternatives to treatment in the emergency room, and will enable the purchase of new software for computers in the medical center’s 138-bed expansion, which opens in 2011. The computer system will enable staff to print identification bracelets at a patient’s bedside and help ensure all laboratory orders and tests are matched with the correct patient. Verizon’s generosity and commitment to our community will improve the delivery of health care services to the uninsured and is an important contribution to the health care issue. At the same time, Verizon’s donation will help relieve the pressure on the hospital’s emergency room.
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