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California Pacific Medical Center Donates Another $2 Million to Help Uninsured

Posted on: Tuesday, 3 October 2006, 18:00 CDT

California Pacific Medical Center President and CEO, Dr. Martin Brotman, today pledged to contribute another $2 million in 2007 to help provide medical services to uninsured and underinsured San Franciscans.

The donation comes on the first anniversary of a landmark collaboration between CPMC and the San Francisco Community Clinic Consortium. The two have teamed up to create the Partnership for Community Health. CPMC had already committed as contributed $4 million over two years to the Partnership to help community-based clinics provide urgently needed primary and specialty care services for almost 10,000 uninsured people in San Francisco.

"We are honored to be partners with the San Francisco Community Clinic Consortium," said Dr. Brotman. "When you are facing a serious medical problem the last thing you should have to worry about is whether or not you can pay to get the help you need. We hope this money will help ensure that for some people at least, that's a question they will never have to ask."

The extra $2 million will help fund services at the Mission Neighborhood Health Center, the North East Medical Services, Saint Anthony Free Medical Clinic, the South of Market Health Center, and the Lyon Martin Women's Health Center. The money will also pay for care from the Physician Foundation at California Pacific Medical Center's Family Health Center, and for referrals to CPMC-affiliated physicians to provide specialty care and services for low-income, uninsured patients.

Over the past year the Partnership for Community Health has had an enormous impact on people's lives. When Glenn Bartlett went to the South of Market Health Center, complaining of abdominal pains, Dr. Peter Berman suspected colon cancer, but he was told the earliest colonoscopy appointment available was four months away. Thanks to the Partnership Dr. Berman he was able to quickly arrange an appointment with a specialist at CPMC, who confirmed that Mr. Bartlett had advanced colon cancer.

"Had treatment been delayed, the man may well have died," said John Gressman, President and CEO of SFCCC. "Because of CPMC's generosity he is alive today. The Partnership for Community Health is truly a national model for collaboration between a private hospital and community-based clinics."

The SFCCC clinics in this program were chosen because of their location in San Francisco communities with the poorest health outcomes, and because they reflect the city's racial and ethnic diversity.

"We are a community-based hospital," said Dr. Brotman. "That community extends right across the city, from Pacific Heights to Bernal Heights, from the beach to the Bay, and we will do whatever we can to provide the best health care possible to everyone, regardless of where they live, or their ability to pay."

California Pacific Medical Center. Beyond Medicine.

At San Francisco's California Pacific Medical Center, we believe in the power of medicine. We research the most up-to-date treatments, hire the most qualified individuals, and practice the most modern, innovative medicine available. We deliver the highest quality expert care with kindness and compassion in acute, post-acute and outpatient services, as well as preventive and complementary medicine. But we also believe that medicine alone is only part of the solution. That's why we look intently at each individual case and treat the whole person, not just the illness. It's why we go beyond medical care and provide our patients with things like disease counseling, family support, and wellness treatments. As one of California's largest private, community based, not-for-profit, teaching medical centers, and a Sutter Health affiliate, we are able to reach deep into our community to provide education, screening, and financial support in some of the city's most underserved neighborhoods. Because medicine can transform a body. But going beyond medicine can transform a life.

Source: Business Wire

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