OneWest Foundation grant helps launch project to help low-income patients obtain medical care through UCLA, Venice Family Clinic

Los Angeles, CA, February 25, 2010 -  Thanks to a generous three-year, $300,000 grant from the OneWest Foundation - matched by funds from the UCLA Health - qualified Venice Family Clinic patients who need hospitalization or specialized medical care may now be helped by a pilot project launched by the foundation, the clinic and the UCLA Health.

"Currently, there is a fragmented system in place to ensure access to specialty and inpatient care for low-income patients seen at Venice Family Clinic," said Dr. David Feinberg, CEO of the UCLA Hospital System and associate vice chancellor. "As a result, complex medical conditions are often only partially diagnosed, and interventional care is frequently delayed until it becomes critical or life-threatening. Patients end up in the Los Angeles County health system, where medical resources and the expertise to deal with the underlying causes are in very limited supply, or they are treated in the emergency room, which is the most expensive form of health care. 

"This pilot project's goal is to provide integrated primary care, specialty care and tertiary care at the right time and in the right medical setting - and to make a true difference in people's lives."

The Pasadena, Calif.-based OneWest Foundation is committed to investing in organizations that help build stronger communities. This grant will support low- to moderate-income patients who lack private insurance and do not qualify for Medi-Cal or Medicare coverage through the pilot project by making a gift pledge through The UCLA Foundation.

"It gives me great satisfaction to know that OneWest is playing a vital role in advancing the UCLA Health Sciences' mission of research, education, patient care and public service, as well as the Venice Family Clinic's commitment to patient care," said Steven T. Mnuchin, chairman of the OneWest Foundation. "We are proud to help make a difference in the lives of those in our community." 

The pilot project will help those patients seen at Venice Family Clinic's new Colen Family Health Center in Mar Vista who do not have private insurance or qualify for Medi-Cal or Medicare coverage, and who require specialty care and hospitalization, to secure ongoing treatment at the UCLA Health. The Colen Family Health Center will open in March 2010 and will serve 4,000 people annually. Roughly 74 percent of the Colen Family Health Center's patients are expected to meet the criteria for this initiative.

"The health systems that work best are those that are integrated and located in the community where patients live," said Liz Forer, CEO of Venice Family Clinic. "This collaboration between Venice Family Clinic and the UCLA Health will expand the options available to our patients, reduce health care treatment costs and improve health outcomes."

The joint venture is intended to establish the value and efficacy of providing coordinated inpatient and outpatient care to low-income patients. UCLA and Venice Family Clinic will assess the impact of the program annually. At the conclusion of the initial three-year period, UCLA and the clinic will explore the viability of pursuing a more permanent solution.

UCLA Health
For more than half a century, the UCLA Health has provided the best in health care and the latest in medical technology to the people of Los Angeles and the world. Comprising Ronald Reagan UCLA Health - Santa Monica Medical Center-UCLA Medical Center and Orthopaedic Hospital, the Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital at UCLA, UCLA Mattel Children's Hospital and the UCLA Medical Group, with its wide-reaching system of primary care and specialty care offices throughout the region, the UCLA Health is among the most comprehensive and advanced health systems in the world. For more information, visit www.uclahealth.org.

Venice Family Clinic
The mission of Venice Family Clinic is to provide free, quality health care to people in need.  Launched in 1970 by volunteer physicians Dr. Philip Rossman, founder, and Dr. Mayer B. Davidson, co-founder, the clinic first operated at night in space borrowed from a small storefront dental office. Today, it is the largest free clinic in the country, providing comprehensive primary health care and a range of specialty care and supportive services to nearly 24,500 low-income, uninsured and homeless men, women and children. The clinic provides more than 86,500 medical, 2,100 vision, 2,100 dental and 8,700 mental health visits annually, as well as auxiliary visits, like case management and health education, through its eight locations on the west side of Los Angeles County.

Venice Family Clinic also enjoys a formal affiliation with the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. UCLA provides human resource services, while the clinic provides training in community primary and specialty care to more than 350 residents and medical students each year. For more information on Venice Family Clinic, visit www.venicefamilyclinic.org.

OneWest Foundation
The OneWest Foundation is a nonprofit public benefit corporation established in 2009 with a $10 million contribution from OneWest Bank, FSB. The foundation's priorities include the provision of affordable housing, health care, education and financial literacy, as well as other important community development efforts that develop, stabilize or rehabilitate underserved communities. OneWest Bank, FSB is a regional bank focused on delivering personalized, relationship-based banking to its customers. It has 81 retail branches in Southern California, with approximately $14 billion in deposits and total assets of $27 billion, including a loan portfolio, a securities portfolio, a servicing platform representing more than $150 billion of loans serviced for third-party investors, and Financial Freedom, a reverse mortgage platform. OneWest is an FDIC-insured institution and funds deposited in the bank are insured up to the FDIC's insurance limit of $250,000 per depositor. For more information, visit www.onewestbank.com.


Roxanne Moster, [email protected]
UCLA Health, (310) 794-2264
Diane Henry, [email protected]
OneWest Foundation, (415) 618-8750
Tim Smith, [email protected]
Venice Family Clinic, (310)664-7910

Media Contact:
Roxanne Moster
(310) 794-2264
[email protected]

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