(Los Angeles, CA) — Asian Pacific Health Care Venture, Inc. (APHCV) is pleased to announce the receipt of $1.5 million from the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Joint Use Fund. This partnership with LAUSD will allow APHCV's existing school-based health center (SBHC) at John Marshall High School (JMHS) to be relocated and expanded on another part of campus. This relocation is necessary due to the expansion of JHMS' track and athletic facilities. The relocation is expected to be completed by February of 2009.

APHCV opened the SBHC in April of 2001, which has gradually increased its hours to 24 hours per week. The SBHC has been licensed to operate as a full time clinic since 2005. The SBHC provides students with comprehensive primary care service, screening and treatment, diagnosis, mental health/counseling services, and dispenses necessary medication. Currently, APHCV SBHC is a Federally Qualified Health Center and is supported by a federal grant called Section 330 Community Health Center. SBHC has also received financial support in the past from County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky and Kaiser Permanente. In addition, Kaiser Permanente and APHCV SBHC have recently established a partnership to bring Kaiser's residency program at the site as well.

As a result of the partnership with LAUSD, the SBHC is expected to expand its capacity to serve the students at JMHS. Patient visits are expected to increase 5-10%, bringing the yearly number to 2,600 - 2,750. Expansion will also allow more patients to receive more counseling in areas such as nutrition, mental health, and reproductive health. APHCV SBHC has already shown to make difference for the lives of students. Immunization rate among the student patients there was rated as excellent by the County. There has also been an increase of 28% in male users from 2006 - 2007 to 2007 - 2008. This increase in utilization is contrary to the nationally low rate of utilization and access rate among male youth for health care. New services such as health insurance enrollment workshops will also be held. Finally, additional after-school activities such as youth internship trainings, yoga activities, and a Student Advisory Board can all utilize the expanded space of the new SBHC. With this partnership, APHCV and LAUSD aim to improve the comprehensive well-being of John Marshall's student body.

Asian Pacific Health Care Venture, Inc. (www.aphcv.org) located in Hollywood and serving the greater Los Angeles area, is a Federally Qualified Health Center that provides culturally competent health education and primary care services to 11,000 patients annually, more than 75% of whom are uninsured. APHCV provided 45,000 medical and mental health visits last year in multiple Asian languages (Thai, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Khmer, Japanese, Bengali, Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, and Indonesian), English and Spanish. APHCV can be reached at (323) 644-3880. Medical appointments can be made by calling (323) 644-3888.