Every Monday morning the Salud Para La Gente medical mobile vehicle pulls into a parking lot off Pajaro’s main drag. The vehicle looks like an RV from the outside, but inside it’s stocked with equipment and supplies for providing primary, preventive, and acute medical care to a community that’s still recovering from a devasting flood.

In March 2023, a levee failed on the Pajaro River, flooding hundreds of homes and businesses in Pajaro, and forcing some 3,000 residents to evacuate. It was an especially harsh blow to this North Monterey County community, home to many farmworkers and their families.

Kaiser Permanente recently awarded a $300,000 grant to Salud Para La Gente to expand medical, dental, social, and behavioral health services to low-income residents. The nonprofit health care organization operates 9 clinics in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties.

Salud’s CEO, Donna Young, said the grant is supporting the mobile vehicle in Pajaro and the reopening of a school-based health center at Pajaro Middle School. Both the school and its health center were damaged in the flooding.

“We’ll be able to offer services to more children and their families when the school-based health center renovations are completed in 6 months,” Young said. “The funding will enable us to support and serve our Pajaro community.”

Grant supports training, technical assistance, and more

Kaiser Permanente supports community health centers like Salud Para La Gente as part of its commitment to increase access to health care for people with low incomes and improve overall health in the community. One in 5 Californians receives their health care through a community health center.

“We know that access to high-quality, affordable, and culturally relevant care is essential for good health,” said Yvette Radford, vice president for External and Community Affairs, Kaiser Permanente Northern California. “We’re proud of our long-standing support for community health centers, which provide equitable access to primary, specialty, dental, and mental health care regardless of an individuals’ ability to pay.”

So far this year, Kaiser Permanente has provided grant funding to 42 community health centers, primary care associations, and community organizations in Northern California that serve people with low incomes. Collectively, these organizations are known as the health care safety net.

In addition to supporting patient care, Kaiser Permanente grants also support training and technical assistance to help safety net providers improve health care quality, grow their workforce, and expand services. Other grants help them enroll eligible patients into Medi-Cal or other subsidized coverage including Kaiser Permanente’s Community Health Care Program.

Kaiser Permanente’s recent $225,000 grant to the Central Valley Health Network will enable it to help its member health centers address issues such as growing their workforce, improving clinical results, and addressing patients’ nonmedical or social health needs like adequate housing. The network advocates for and provides program support for 16 community health centers operating more than 250 clinical sites throughout Northern California.

“Kaiser Permanente has been a fantastic partner; it feels like we’re working from the same DNA,” said Jason Vega, Central Valley Health Network CEO. “We’re both concerned with taking care of our communities and improving people’s quality of life.”

Making a difference in patients’ lives

Salud Para La Gente served more than 27,000 patients last year, and its providers screened more than half of them for social needs, asking about food, housing, transportation, safety, and behavioral health needs. Salud also distributes food and diapers.

Physician Assistant Leticia Salazar, who staffs the medical mobile vehicle in Pajaro on Mondays, said needs have been high, especially since the pandemic and last year’s flood.

“We address the conditions that we can, and we connect our patients to resources in the community,” Salazar said. “It’s gratifying to know we can make even a small difference in our patients’ lives.”

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