Kaiser Permanente Awards $352,500 in Grants to 74 Non-Profit Agencies Focused on HIV/AIDS in California

Business Wire, Nov 21, 2002

Business Editors & Health/Medical Writers

PASADENA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 21, 2002

Kaiser Permanente has awarded community service grants totaling $352,500 to 74 agencies throughout California that provide special services to people who are HIV-positive or have acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS).

The grants support nonprofit agencies that provide everything from hot meals and housekeeping to advocacy services and support groups for women and children with HIV. Many are also involved in outreach efforts aimed at preventing new HIV cases.

"Kaiser Permanente has made HIV prevention and treatment a priority because the rate of infection continues to rise in some populations. We want to provide quality care to our HIV positive patients and do what we can for non-members who are at risk of, or have acquired the disease. The latter is where our community service grants play an important role," said Mark Katz, Regional HIV/AIDS Physician Coordinator for Kaiser Permanente in Southern California.

Among the agencies in Southern California receiving grants this year is the Children Affected by AIDS Foundation (CAAF) whose mission is to provide support to both children infected with HIV as well as those affected by AIDS.

"Kaiser Permanente's grant to our foundation will help us underwrite the cost of providing a first time camping opportunity to children from Los Angeles County affected by AIDS. Our foundation puts special emphasis on children being able to be children regardless of their health circumstance and we greatly appreciate that Kaiser Permanente shares and supports our philosophy," said CAAF Executive Director Cathy Brown.

Physicians, nurses, health educators and Kaiser Permanente staff members who work with HIV and AIDS patients select grant recipients for the communities they themselves serve. Many agencies were chosen because they provide services, such as those of CAAF, that are not covered by insurance benefits or not available through state, county and federal agencies.

Kaiser Permanente has presented Community Service grants to HIV-focused organizations since 1989. This year's $352,500 brings the total to over $2.8 million since the program's inception.

In addition to grant giving, Kaiser Permanente's commitment to preventing disease of all kinds, including HIV/AIDS, is demonstrated by the organization's innovative public health programs.

Since the early 1980s, when a San Francisco Kaiser Permanente doctor was one of the first to identify AIDS in a patient, Kaiser Permanente has been a leader in meeting the tough challenges of this virus, both through medical care and work in the community. Beginning with the HIV Research Clinics in 1987, all Kaiser Permanente medical centers now participate in studies which have helped move HIV/AIDS treatment forward.

Prenatal care has been another area of success -- as a result of a concerted effort to increase HIV antibody testing, an impressive 90 percent of pregnant women receiving prenatal care at Kaiser Permanente in California are voluntarily tested for the HIV virus.

Kaiser Permanente is a prepaid, group practice health maintenance organization (HMO), founded in 1945. The Kaiser Permanente Southern California Region has more than 3.1 million members. It includes 3,600 physicians in the Southern California Permanente Medical Group (SCPMG) and 45,000 Kaiser Foundation Health Plan and Hospitals employees. The Region is served by 11 major medical centers.

http://www.kaiserpermanente.org