Kaiser Permanente partnered with the Hispanic Scholarship Fund (HSF) and the United Negro College Fund (UNCF) for the launch of a national Health Equity Scholars Program.
The Kaiser grant enabled HSF and UNCF to award $1.26 million in scholarships to more than 250 high school seniors across the country last year. Four students in the San Fernando Valley were chosen to receive awards for the 2021-2022 school year, according to Kaiser Permanente Panorama City.
“In the long term, we believe these scholars will improve conditions for health in the communities we serve including the San Fernando Valley and help innovate the health care system,” Patti Clausen, Kaiser Permanente senior vice president and area manager, said in a statement.
Kaiser has health facilities and hospitals in Woodland Hills, Panorama City, Antelope Valley and other parts of the San Fernando Valley region.
The scholarships aim to ease the burden of student debt for college students. According to the Roosevelt Institute, between 2000 and 2021, the median student debt for white borrowers nearly doubled from $12,000 to nearly $23,000. That number quadrupled for Black borrowers, increasing from $7,000 to $30,000.
“We believe that if we can help promising students emerge from colleges and universities with less debt, we can decrease the likelihood that they will suffer from the ensuing financial strain and accompanying chronic stress that can contribute to poor health,” Dr. Bechara Choucair, senior vice president and chief health officer at Kaiser Permanente, said in a statement.
71% of the scholarship recipients are first-generation college students.