Hospital Gives to Nonprofits

Northridge Hospital Medical Center has awarded grants to three Valley nonprofits that will help cover blind spots in public health and wellness. The hospital bestowed grants of $52,337 each to Journey Out, ONEGeneration and Phoenix House. The funding comes as part of parent organization Dignity Health’s Community Health Grant program, an annual campaign to partner with local charitable organizations to provide a “continuum of care” that extends beyond the walls of a hospital. According to Northridge Hospital Foundation President Brian Hammel, who runs the hospital’s financing arm, “It’s kind of a contradiction, but so much of health care now is keeping people out of the hospital. … Even when you’re discharged, you’re still our patient. We’re really trying to look after these patients long after they leave here with some of these chronic diseases.” He added that keeping the general population as healthy and diligent in managing illnesses as possible allows the hospital to safely allocate more resources for urgent or emergency cases such as strokes or heart attacks. “If you don’t take care of yourself, you’re going to come right back to the hospital,’ Hammel said. That’s where the nonprofits come in. ONEGeneration is a senior care organization with centers in Canoga Park, Reseda and Van Nuys that offers help for people with long-term illnesses including Alzheimer’s, dementia, cancer, Parkinson’s and HIV/AIDS. Its grant will support a health and housing project that aims to reduce social isolation for seniors. Journey’s Out, based in Van Nuys, works with victims of human trafficking and sexual exploitation. It will use the grant for its standard crisis and long-term support services. And Phoenix House is a national drug and alcohol rehabilitation organization with a treatment center in Sylmar. It will use the money for individual and group therapy as well as nature-oriented services to teens in its residential and outpatient treatment programs. Hammel explained Dignity Health allots a certain amount of money to each of its 39 hospitals for the Community Health Grant program every year. Each hospital is then free to select a few local charities to support with that money. “We’re here to serve our community,” said Hammel. “That’s more than just treating people when they’re sick.”