Community Benefit
- Bringing no-cost, quality healthcare services via mobile medical units COACH for Kids and Their Families to underserved areas.
- Providing free diabetes screenings, education and prevention programs for seniors.
- Combating childhood obesity – teaching Healthy Habits for Kids in LAUSD schools.
Meeting the health needs of the wider community has been an integral part of Cedars-Sinai’s mission for more than 100 years.
As a leading nonprofit Medical Center, our commitment to community benefit can be clearly seen in three key areas:
- Providing access to essential healthcare for those in greatest need – the uninsured and underinsured
- Empowering communities to become healthier through vital prevention programs and services offered in public schools, senior centers, mobile clinics, and more
- Offering education and research programs to prepare the next generation of healthcare professionals, and expand the horizons of medical knowledge
Providing access to quality healthcare for all
Although known to many as the hospital of the stars, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center provides the same level of quality patient care to all, including the uninsured and underinsured in our community.
Beyond Beverly Hills, in the areas surrounding Cedars-Sinai – encompassing some of Los Angeles County’s most vulnerable neighborhoods – the Medical Center is actively working to improve the health of our community.
Investing in Our Community
Cedars-Sinai’s commitment to improving the health of our community is reflected in our significant investment in Community Benefit, with a total financial contribution of $502,387,000 in fiscal year 2010. This enables the Medical Center to provide access to healthcare for all, fund the unpaid costs of Medi-Cal and Medicare for those in need, and support education and prevention programs in our community.
Programs and Services
From our distinctive mobile medical clinics, COACH for Kids®, in underserved neighborhoods, to school-based programs teaching Healthy Habits to combat childhood obesity, to senior health screenings, Cedars-Sinai provides a variety of vital Community Benefit programs and services reaching those in need. Among thousands of community health efforts, program highlights include:
Last year, COACH for Kids and Their Families®, provided 25,365 healthcare visits to over 10,500 individuals. Healthcare services include immunizations, screenings, diagnosis and treatment of acute illnesses. Staffed by Cedars-Sinai professionals, two large fully-equipped mobile units – "medical clinics on wheels"— visit economically disadvantaged neighborhoods in Los Angeles County.
Cedars-Sinai senior services strive to improve the quality of life for older members of the community. Programs include Center Strutters Walking Program, Lifeline Emergency Response Program, Senior Care Lecture Series, free seasonal flu shots at clinics in community centers, synagogues, churches and other locations throughout the community, and more.
The Psychological Trauma Center, affiliated with Cedars-Sinai, helps children, teachers, families and other victims cope with traumatic events. The Center offers crisis intervention, training and prevention programs at schools and community organizations.
Since 1980, Cedars-Sinai’s Teen Line has offered teen-to-teen peer counseling to support adolescents coping with trauma and stress. The hotline’s outreach service includes presentations to schools, youth groups and agencies that serve teens.
Support groups extend patient care beyond the campus of the Medical Center into the community where individuals share experiences, receive new information, and find comfort and strength in the knowledge that he or she is not alone on the journey of healing. These include: American Parkinson Disease Support Group, Cancer support groups, and “Yes I Can” Stroke Support Group,” among others.
Community Partnerships
Cedars-Sinai maximizes the effectiveness of community health programs by partnering with local organizations – including community centers, schools, synagogues, churches, senior centers, and local government health programs. As each community organization identifies priority health needs of the people they serve, Cedars-Sinai provides vital resources and works in partnership to meet critical needs.
Community partners include the Los Angeles Unified School District, Los Angeles Urban League, Pan Pacific Senior Activity Center, Peoples Coordinated Services, Temple Beth Am, Saban Free Clinic, Children’s Institute International, Union Rescue Mission, The Children’s Health Fund, The Los Angeles Housing Authority, and many more.
Education
Cedars-Sinai, one of the largest nonprofit academic medical centers in the western United States, offers extensive graduate medical education and a variety of degree resource programs for nurses, physicians and other healthcare professionals.
Educational offerings include:
- Cedars-Sinai is home to one of California’s largest internal medicine residency programs
- The Geri and Richard Brawerman Nursing Institute provides free educational programs and financial assistance for training to nurses at the Medical Center
- Educational symposiums are held throughout the year at Cedars-Sinai to provide physicians with the latest information on medical advances
- The Youth Employment and Development Program provides job training and mentoring for students interested in pursuing healthcare careers
- Brainworks: The Department of Neurosurgery provides opportunities for seventh and eighth-grade students from Los Angeles area schools to imagine themselves as brain surgeons and research scientists
Physicians and scientists at Cedars-Sinai are conducting more than 800 research projects. Expanding the horizons of medical knowledge through biomedical research is a vital part of our mission. For more on Cedars-Sinai’s extraordinary research projects, please see Discoveries magazine.
