PRESS RELEASE: Paid Content from Accesswire. The AP news staff was not involved in its creation.

Cynthia Telles: Insight on Serving Those in Need

LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / December 27, 2019 / Working to serve those most in need is part of the core mission of quality health care. In the coming months, Kaiser Permanente will provide more than $40 million in grants to community-based organizations, much of which will help ensure access to health care for uninsured people and under-resourced communities.

“Our commitment to helping underserved communities achieve consistent and positive health outcomes is not only central to how we operate as a nonprofit health provider, but also to our approach to community giving,” said Dr. Cynthia Telles, Community Health committee chair for the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Hospitals Boards of Directors. “It is part of our mission to improve the health of our communities.”

Quarterly grants such as these are part of Kaiser Permanente’s yearly contributions to improve access to care in its communities. Since its establishment in 1945, the overarching goal for Kaiser Permanente has always been to provide high quality and affordable care, and to improve the health of the more than 68 million people who live in the communities it serves.

Through her role as Community Health committee chair, Dr. Cynthia Telles has dedicated her focus on expanding access to high-quality physical and mental health care, especially to underserved communities, and offering strategic oversight of the organization’s approach to community health.

“We believe everyone should have the ability to access affordable health care,” said Dr. Telles. “We support our community members in obtaining the care they need when they need it.”

Kaiser Permanente grants provide support where the needs and opportunities for impact are the greatest. Project Access NOW, one of the grant recipients, provides access to donated health care, enrollment in health care coverage options, and access to free or low-cost medications throughout Portland, Oregon.

Other funded organizations and programs include:

  • Santa Rosa Community Health and its campaign to rebuild a clinic that was destroyed by a wildfire in 2017

  • Highline Public Schools and their efforts to expand the school system’s capacity to deliver mental health support, improve mental health awareness, reduce barriers to accessing school mental health services, and promote staff wellness.

  • Fresno County of Office Education, which will fund a mobile school-based health clinic for students and families - particularly in rural Fresno County, where access to care is limited or nonexistent.

“I am so proud of Kaiser Permanente’s legacy of improving community health, which includes dedicating nearly $2.8 billion to improve health and wellness in communities across the country,” said Dr. Cynthia Telles. “In addition to grants, we also serve the community through a range of programs including Medicaid, charitable health coverage, medical financial assistance, and medical research.”

For more information about Kaiser Permanente’s community health work, review the organization’s most recent Community Health Snapshot at https://healthy.kaiserpermanente.org/static/health/annual_reports/chsnapshot2018/ or reach out to John Nelson at .

SOURCE: Kaiser Permanente

View source version on accesswire.com:

https://www.accesswire.com/571458/Cynthia-Telles-Insight-on-Serving-Those-in-Need