Blue Shield of California Foundation awards Asian Pacific Health Care Venture $30,000 to help residents in need
September 19, 2011
Blue Shield of California Foundation (BSCF) today announced that it was awarding Asian Pacific Health Care Venture, Inc. (APHCV) $30,000 in general operating support to help provide needed care to uninsured Los Angeles County residents. The grant is part of the Foundation’s efforts aimed at strengthening the statewide network of community clinics and health centers and helping them provide high quality health care to millions of vulnerable Californians.
“Asian Pacific Health Care Venture is a vital part of California’s safety net,” said Peter Long, Ph.D., president and CEO of BSCF. “The struggling economy and cuts to key public services have made community clinics more important than ever before.”
More than 200 licensed community, free, and tribal clinics provide health services to California’s most vulnerable populations at over 800 sites throughout the state. These clinics provide services to nearly 3 million patients each year, many of whom are uninsured or underinsured. Since 2003, the Foundation has invested more than $52 million in clinics statewide.
“Asian Pacific Health Care Venture is grateful to the Blue Shield of California Foundation, and the many years it has been contributing to the successful delivery of health care to some of our most vulnerable populations,” said Kazue Shibata, CEO of APHCV. “These funds will continue to play a vital role in helping Asian Pacific Health Care Venture provide health care to the underserved.”
Blue Shield of California Foundation (www.blueshieldcafoundation.org) is one of the state’s largest healthcare grantmaking organizations. The Foundation was formed by Blue Shield of California, a not-for-profit corporation with more than 3.4 million members, 4,800 employees, and 20 offices throughout California.
Asian Pacific Health Care Venture, Inc. (www.aphcv.org) is a nonprofit federally-qualified health center that provides culturally competent health education and primary care services to over 12,000 patients annually, more than 77% of whom are uninsured. APHCV provides over 46,400 medical and mental health visits each year in multiple Asian languages (Bengali, Cantonese, Hindi, Japanese, Khmer, Korean, Indonesian, Mandarin, Tagalog, Thai, Urdu, and Vietnamese), English and Spanish. APHCV operates three community health center sites: the Los Feliz Health Center, Belmont Health Services and John Marshall High School Health Center (for JMHS students). APHCV can be reached at (323) 644-3880. Medical appointments for the Los Feliz Health Center can be made by calling (323) 644-3888 and to the Belmont Health Services at (323) 644-3885.
