SoCal Flipbooks

Health Matters: Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana Medical Center | 11 S ince our founding in 1850, Providence has made it our mission to care for the most vulnerable in our communities. "We're not just interested in the work inside the walls of the hospitals," says Shawn Kiley, chief mission integration officer and longtime chaplain at Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana Medical Center. "It's about our commitment to building health for a better community. We minister to the whole person—mind, body, spirit." Here in the San Fernando Valley, that mission comes to life through a joint effort between Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana, Providence Saint Joseph and Providence Holy Cross medical centers. Every three years, our Community Health Investment team conducts a Community Health Needs Assessment, listening to people throughout the community. The results identify Providence's highest priorities in serving our most vulnerable populations for the next three years. The triannual survey was especially important during the COVID-19 pandemic. "Something like that comes along and can turn a community upside down," says Kiley. "You need to keep going into the community at a regular cadence to keep your finger on the pulse of things." Case in point: In 2019, the San Fernando Valley community identified food insecurity as one of its top priorities, a need that only grew more acute when COVID-19 struck. As the 2022 report states, "Communities banded together to provide food to seniors who were immunocompromised or homebound and unable to go grocery shopping." Because of Providence's successful efforts, food insecurity actually went down on the 2022 list of unaddressed needs. (Read about some of those community heroes in the sidebar.) But the pandemic exacerbated other problems. The 2022 report identified three top priorities for the period ahead: access to quality health care; homelessness and housing instability; and mental health, including substance misuse. Our youth and our elderly suffered profound loneliness and isolation during the pandemic, and those effects linger today. Providence meets those needs through a variety of means, from grants to patient programs at the hospitals themselves. Our Mother Joseph Fund awards $400,000 in grants each December, enabling our partner organizations to open food pantries, provide behavioral health support and operate shower programs and mobile vans to aid those experiencing homelessness. In each of our San Fernando Valley hospitals, navigators for the homeless help patients find transitional shelter, while mental health navigators help secure behavioral health care. In our emergency departments, a program pairs patients with primary care doctors for ongoing follow-up care. True to our mission, Providence also focuses squarely on the bigger picture: health equity. "There are segments of our population who aren't getting the kind of care that others may take for granted," Kiley states. "It's important to call that out and to emphasize that everybody should have equal footing. It's our core value of justice." It's also about "helping people live their best life, in terms of housing, nutrition and access to care," he says. "We need to pause with intention to ask, 'Who is it that's not being served here?' If we don't do that, then we are diminished by that gap." DAILY BREAD How Providence partners tackled food insecurity "Food insecurity was one of our top priorities in the 2019 Community Health Needs Assessment," says chief mission officer Shawn Kiley of Providence's joint efforts in the San Fernando Valley. "But there was so much done during COVID to address the issue that in the new 2022 report, it dropped down the list. It goes to show you that when we concentrate our efforts, we can make a difference." During the pandemic, Providence's partner organizations pivoted to help, thanks in part to grants from Providence's Mother Joseph Fund. From the Burbank Temporary Aid Center to the Catholic Charities Guadalupe Community Center in Canoga Park, groups throughout the San Fernando Valley saw people in need and worked hard to put food on their neighbors' tables. Here are just three of the partners who helped put a dent in food insecurity. "It's something to celebrate," says Kiley. "But it doesn't mean our work is done." WEST VALLEY FAMILY YMCA The West Valley Family YMCA in Reseda had to close for periods during the pandemic—no swim lessons, no recreation leagues. YMCA leaders asked themselves what else could they do. They started a food distribution center, where people could drive up and get bags of groceries. The organization would end up distributing 10,000 pounds of produce and pantry staples to more than 1,000 individuals and families. In addition to providing showers and hygiene essentials to people experiencing homelessness, they served meals to 40 individuals a week, totaling 900 meals. ONEgeneration Seniors were among those hit hardest during the pandemic, and ONEgeneration helped those in the Valley stay nourished and safe. A new food bank and mobile pantry at their Reseda Senior Enrichment Center enabled churches, shelters and other groups to deliver 200,000 pounds of food and other essentials to 5,000 people a month. They grocery-shopped for homebound seniors and helped any family struggling with food insecurity get healthful food through their walk-up food pantry and use SNAP benefits to buy fresh produce at the Encino Farmers Market. MEND POVERTY Through its Buen Provecho Farmers Market, Pacoima-based MEND Poverty was able to deliver 49,533 pounds of fresh produce to 7,978 food-insecure individuals in 2022. True to its Meet Each Need with Dignity mission, MEND assisted eligible families with CalFresh enrollments and, through the Pathways to Wellness program, counseled people with chronic conditions on improved health behaviors. Of the program's 145 participants, 68% were able to decrease their waist circumference by an average of two inches each. Shawn Kiley

• Cover