Kaiser Permanente Southern California Grants for HIV/AIDS Community Organizations Total More Than $750,000 for 2009

PASADENA, Calif., December 1, 2009 — Kaiser Permanente announced today that more than 60 nonprofit organizations from Kern to San Diego will receive grants totaling more than $750,000 to help fund a wide range of services for people with HIV and AIDS, including youth education, prevention, screening and treatment programs, as well as housing assistance and food pantries. Kaiser Permanente’s community benefit HIV/AIDS funding for 2009 will exceed $1.25 million to California agencies this year, bringing the total to more than $6.25 million since the grant program began in 1989.

"We provide quality care to 6,000 HIV-positive patients and collaborate with other organizations in services for non-members who are at risk of, or have acquired, the disease. The latter is where our education and community benefit grants play an important role," said William J. Towner, MD, the Kaiser Permanente Southern California Regional HIV/AIDS Physician Coordinator and Medical Director of Kaiser Permanente Southern California's HIV/AIDS Research Trials (H.A.R.T) Program.

Many of the 2009 grant recipients were selected by committees at each medical center and included physicians, nurses, health educators, and other Kaiser Permanente staff members who work with HIV and AIDS patients from the communities they themselves serve. Other agencies were chosen because they provide services that are not covered by insurance benefits or are not available through state, county and federal agencies. The largest award to a single agency was provided to the AIDS Service Center in Pasadena totaling $40,000.

In greater Los Angeles, encompassing the Los Angeles Medical Center and the West Los Angeles Medical Centers’ service areas the following agencies received grant support: AIDS Research Alliance (ARA); AIDS Service Center; Asian American Drug Abuse Program; Bienestar Human Services; Being Alive; Camp Laurel; Clinica Monsenor Oscar Romero; Covenant House; Common Ground - The Westside Community Center; Hollywood Community Housing Corporation; Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center; Los Angeles Jewish AIDS Service; Minority AIDS Project; People Assisting the Homeless (PATH); The Saban Free Clinic; Serra Ancillary Care Corporation; The Wall - Las Memorias; and the Westside Family Health Center.