logo email header
Upcoming Events and Opportunities
Conditions on Hospital Merger Include LGBT Protections
 
Last week, Attorney General Kamala D. Harris granted conditional approval of a transaction that will allow a change of control and governance of the Daughters of Charity Health System. The Attorney General's approval includes strong conditions to ensure the continuity of essential healthcare services for vulnerable communities at the six health facilities and requires many essential health care services to remain in place for at least ten years.

As one of the conditions to the merger, all facilities and the medical office buildings' policies and procedures shall explicitly prohibit discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender individuals.

The transaction would include the following six health facilities:
  • St. Vincent Medical Center (Los Angeles, CA)
  • St. Francis Medical Center (Lynwood, CA)
  • O'Connor Hospital (San Jose, CA)
  • Saint Louise Regional Hospital (Gilroy, CA)
  • Seton Medical Center (Daly City, CA)
  • Seton Coastside (Moss Beach, CA)
Find more details here about the other conditions on what could be the largest and most complex nonprofit hospital transaction in California's history.
 
Federal LGBT Health Issues Call

Join U.S. Department of Health and Human Service Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell and Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) on Tuesday, December 8 at 9:25am PT for a call on the Affordable Care Act to kick-off LGBT enrollment Week of Action.
 
HHS LGBT Issues Coordinating Committee Co-Chairs ACL Administrator and Assistant Secretary for Aging Kathy Greenlee, and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health Wanda Jones will also discuss the 2015 HHS LGBT Annual Report, which will be announced during the call and available at www.hhs.gov/lgbt
       
WHEN: Tuesday, December 8 at 9:25am PT
DIAL:  800-369-1848
PASSCODE: 1569153
  
Please note this call is off the record and not intended for press purposes. All information provided should be treated as background information only.
 
#GetCovered Before the Dec 15 Deadline!
 
Health is an equality issue, and the Affordable Care Act offers lots of new opportunities for LGBT folks and their families to get the quality, affordable health coverage and health care they deserve. That's why we're partnering with Out2Enroll to make sure LGBT folks have the facts they need about what the law means.
 
Did you know that the Affordable Care Act makes financial assistance available to help you find a plan that fits your budget? Depending on your income and family size, subsidies are available for people making up to almost $47,000 per year for an individual or almost $80,000 for a family of three. In fact, 80 percent of people who've enrolled in coverage through HealthCare.gov  have received help paying for their coverage.
 
The law also establishes new LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination protections in health coverage and health care. Thanks to these protections, married same-sex couples can now enroll together and get financial assistance together in any family plan in any state.
 
There are more options at CoveredCA.com  this year than ever before, which means that LGBT community members can choose the best plan for their budget from top insurance companies. And plans must cover the Essential Health Benefits, which include doctor visits, hospital services, mental health care, prescription drugs, preventive services such as mammograms, and others. What's more, the law makes sure that having a pre-existing condition can no longer keep you from getting covered.
 
Getting covered is easy: Just visit CoveredCA.com to learn more about your options and to get your questions answered. Free, in-person help is also available from enrollment professionals who can walk you through the application process-visit Out2Enroll.org/enrollment-help to find help from LGBT-friendly enrollment assisters in your local area. You can also call Gender Health Center or San Joaquin Pride Center for help enrolling over the phone.

But time is running out. Check out your options and pick a plan before the December 15th deadline in order to have coverage that starts on January 1, 2016. Don't risk missing your chance to protect your own and your family's health and financial security-enroll in health coverage today.
 
Fair Share for Equality Convening

Equality California Institute is hosting its Second Annual Fair Share for Equality Convening in Los Angeles on December 15, 2015.

Date: Tuesday, December 15, 2015
Location: 202 W 1st Street, Los Angeles CA 90012
Time: 9:30am - 6:00pm

Lunch will be provided and a cocktail reception will be held from 4:00pm - 6:00pm.  

Panel topics will include:
HIV/AIDS
Immigrant Rights
Youth, Schools and Homelessness 
Health and Wellbeing 

Expanding on the success of the first convening this past January in Sacramento, Equality California is excited to again bring together leaders from the LGBT community and various community organizations and California policymakers to speak on the issues that matter most to LGBT people within California and across the country. 

Fair Share for Equality was created to address the continued wide spread disparities LGBT people face in their health and well-being and to educate policymakers and mobilize our partners to ensure our "fair share" of budgetary resources are made available to our community and to allow leaders from LGBT organizations and centers, social service and healthcare providers, and allied organizations to connect with each other and our state's policymakers.

Findings and discussions from the event will be compiled into a report that will be delivered to Governor's office, members of the legislature, and other federal, state and local government departments to educate policy makers on the disparities in health and wellbeing that LGBT people face and program solutions to address the needs of the LGBT community. 
 
Funding Opportunity: Research Grant for Preventing Violence
 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have released a funding opportunity, Research Grants for Preventing Violence and Violence Related Injury (RO1). The research should expand and advance knowledge on "how best to disseminate, implement, and translate evidence-based primary prevention strategies, programs, and policies designed to reduce child abuse and neglect and what works to prevent violence by rigorously evaluating primary prevention strategies, programs, and policies to address specific gaps in the prevention of child abuse and neglect, teen dating violence, adult intimate partner violence, or sexual violence."

 

Letters of intent are due by January 15th, applications by March 1st. 

 

Pre-application conference call: January 6th

10:30 - 11:30 a.m. (PST) 

Toll-Free Number: 1-866-827-9455

passcode 5048401

 
Funding Opportunity: Research to Build a Culture of Health
 

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has announced a call for proposals for Evidence for Action: Investigator-Initiated Research to Build a Culture of Health, a program supporting "investigator-initiated research to develop the evidence base needed to build a national Culture of Health - in which everyone has the opportunity to live their healthiest life possible." Between five and 12 grants will be awarded each year, totaling approximately $2.2 million.


 

Letters of intent are being accepted on a rolling basis

 
Upcoming Network Meetings:
Network calls are scheduled for the first Thursday of every month, from
10:00 -  11:00 am
February 4, 2016
March 3, 2016
Contact Us: 
Kate Burch, Network Director
kburch@health-access.org     
510-873-8787 x106
www.californialgbthealth.org  Like us on Facebook  Follow us on Twitter