Below is a look back at key moments in our history, along with awards and honors that recognize L.A. Care's unwavering commitment to our mission, vision, and values. We look forward to achieving even more for our communities as we elevate health care for all of Los Angeles County.
December 2022
L.A. Care commits $14,426,430 in CalAIM Incentive Payment Program (IPP) funding to 64 providers offering Enhanced Care Management and Community Supports. Funding was awarded to providers to help them develop the infrastructure necessary to deliver Enhanced Care Management and Community Supports, as well as to allow them to build capacity through technology upgrades and recruitment, hiring and training of new staff.
November 2022
L.A. Care awarded $750,000 to five community-based organizations as part of its Equity and Resilience Initiative. These organizations, which are led by individuals who are Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color (BIPOC), are working to mitigate the impact of historic maltreatment and marginalization of low-income communities of color.
October 2022
L.A. Care launches its new L.A. Care Medicare Plus plan, with enrollment beginning October 15 and coverage beginning January 1, 2023. L.A. Care Medicare Plus, a dual eligible special needs plan (D-SNP), offers complete care that coordinates benefits for members eligible for both Medicare and Medi-Cal benefits.
September 2022
St. John's Community Health bestows its Champion Award upon John Baackes, the CEO of L.A. Care. St. John's honored Baackes for his leadership of the plan that allows millions of Los Angeles County residents to receive access to quality and affordable health care.
August 2022
L.A. Care receives the Stakeholders Appreciation Award at the Multicultural Health Fair and Children's Appreciation Day, hosted by the Comprehensive Community Health Centers (CCHC). The event capped off National Health Center Week, an annual celebration with a goal of raising awareness about America's health centers.
August 2022
L.A. Care Health Plan was proud to receive the Stakeholders Appreciation Award at the Multicultural Health Fair and Children’s Appreciation Day, which was hosted by the Comprehensive Community Health Centers (CCHC). The event capped off National Health Center Week, an annual celebration with a goal of raising awareness about America’s health centers.
July 2022
The nonprofit SALVA in Palmdale hosted its 6th Anniversary Gala Dinner, which included an awards ceremony honoring community leaders in the Antelope Valley. Among the honorees was Rocio Castellanos, the Manager of the L.A. Care/Blue Shield Promise Community Resource Center in Palmdale. Castellanos was named the Mujer Lider del Año or Woman Leader of the Year.
April 2022
L.A. Care celebrates 25 years of serving Los Angeles County.
March 2022
The Healthcare Innovation team selected L.A. Care as a semifinalist for the 2022 Innovator Awards Program for supporting those who are family caregivers for dual-eligible plan members. L.A. Care's CEO John Baackes has been leading an initiative that is part of a large cluster of initiatives designed to improve the health status of L.A. Care's members. In that regard, nearly four years ago, the L.A. Care leaders established a ten-week training program, with 30-50 students in each cohort, and with classes given in English Spanish, various Chinese dialects, and Russian, to teach basic observation skills, as well as caregiver burnout skills. Over 4,200 have been trained, and have contributed to the improved health status of their loved ones. What's more, Baackes explains, "We're now monitoring the utilization of the healthcare services by the clients, and we're beginning to get a body of data that shows that the utilization prior to the training goes down after the In-Home Support Service Worker goes through the training."
January 2022
The State of California launches California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM), a long-term commitment to transform and strengthen Medi-Cal, offering Californians a more equitable, coordinated, and person-centered approach to maximizing their health and life trajectory.
December 2021
L.A. Care joins forces with the Los Angeles Rams in a series of COVID-19 vaccination events in under vaccinated communities.
October 2021
L.A. Care was given the prestigious Golden Eagle Award at the 34th Annual Productivity and Quality Awards, which honors the very best in social service delivery to the County's 10 million residents. The collaboration of Health Services (HSA and Emergency Medical Services Agency), L.A. Care's Dr. Alex Li and Brandon Shelton, Berry Consultants, Chief Executive Office, Public Health, and UCLA Departments of Biostatistics, Mathematics, and Statistics provided data and support in developing the County's models for forecasting resources against demand, such as hospital beds and ventilator capacity.
September 2021
L.A. Care won Best Intranet Website from the Web Marketing Association's 2021 WebAwards. The L.A. Care Intranet, recently underwent a strategic redesign where employee stories and ideas are at the forefront, creating a deeper sense of pride in the health plan and in one another.
June 2021
The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) awarded L.A. Care a Distinction in Multicultural Health Care. The award is given out every two years, and this is the fifth time L.A. Care, the largest publicly operated plan in the country, has received the honor for its Medi-Cal, Cal MediConnect and L.A. Care Covered product lines.
June 2021
The American Heart Association Los Angeles (AHA Los Angeles) recognized L.A. Care CEO John Baackes for our commitment to health equity at the Heart of Los Angeles 2021 Heart & Stroke Ball. The annual event raises critical funding to support awareness efforts and cutting-edge research related to cardiovascular health and stroke.
April 2021
The L.A. Care Blue Shield Promise Community Resource Center monthly newsletters are used to share important information with key community partners that work with the resource centers to serve our mutual clients. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the newsletters have been instrumental in informing partners about virtual programming and important community events such as free drive-thru food pantries and COVID-19 vaccine clinics. The Community Resource Center newsletters have proven so valuable to community partners over the past year that the project has been named the 2021 Best Health Care Online Newsletter Campaign by the Internet Advertising Competition (IAC).
April 2021
L.A. Care and Blue Shield Promise offer free COVID-19 vaccine clinics in high-need areas near their Community Resource Centers to address vaccine equity.
November 2020
Launches campaign to thank all providers for their determination to provide high quality patient care under immeasurable COVID-19 pandemic challenges.
October 2020
Aunt Bertha, the company that operates a search tool to help connect people to much-needed social services, honored Michael Brodsky, MD, the Medical Director for Behavioral Health and Social Services at L.A. Care, with its Community Contribution Award. The award goes to individuals who go above and beyond to improve access to social care resources in their communities.
August 2020
John Baackes, CEO of L.A. Care, was named Insurance Executive of the Year by the Los Angeles Business Journal (LABJ). The LABJ announced the award at the publication's Health Care Panel and Awards, a virtual event that brought together industry leaders for a panel discussion on a variety of health-related topics.
August 2020
Stands in support of Black Lives Matter. L.A. Care is committed to advancing health equity for our members and their communities.
June 2020
L.A. Care's Online Newsroom received a 2020 Bronze Anvil Award of Commendation. For more than 45 years, the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Bronze Anvil Awards have recognized the best of the best in public relations. Our redesigned newsroom saw a more than 1450% increase in page views, and visitor spent 139% more time reading news items.
June 2020
The Web Marketing Association honored the L.A. Care team with 2020 WebAwards in two categories – health care and nonprofit. The website received its highest marks in content, and the team credits exhaustive efforts to understand the taxonomy structure of legacy content on the site and optimize, when possible, for a stronger contextual search. The L.A. Care website also received high marks in design and interactivity. On interactivity, the team evolved toward approaching web design and development with a "mobile first" mentality. Each page experience is calibrated to automatically display seamlessly across every device and platform.
March 2020
COVID-19 pandemic sweeps the globe. LA. Care immediately swings into action to address member and physician needs, including:
- Hosts blood drive to help with severe blood shortage caused by the pandemic
- Commits Nearly $120 Million to Frontline Health Care Providers During the COVID-19 Pandemic
- Tackles food security caused by COVID-19 with drive-through food pantry events
- Hosts backpack drive through events at CRCs to distribute school supplies and food
- Leads second COVID-19 Disparities Leadership Summit with health care and community leaders
- Awards $1 Million to organizations serving marginalized communities during COVID-19 pandemic
- Commits nearly $2 Million to increase COVID-19 vaccines in low-income communities of color
- Launches COVID-19 vaccination incentive program
October 2019
L.A. Care Health Plan and Blue Shield of California Promise Health Plan invest $146 million in Community Resource Center expansion, with a promise to jointly operate 14 locations. Today, we have nine locations with five more to go.
February 2019
Approximately 300 community members took part in free health screenings, arts and crafts and giveaways as part of our February 9th East L.A. Family Resource Center (FRC) grand opening event. Participants toured L.A. Care's newest and sixth frc, which features an 8,344-square-foot facility to house a variety of free exercise classes, support groups and health workshops.
November 2018
The Los Angeles County Medical Association (LACMA) honored L.A. Care with the Innovation Award for Community Service at its annual Los Angeles Healthcare Awards event. L.A. Care was recognized for its physician shortage initiative, Elevating the Safety Net, which focuses on enabling more providers to work in clinics that serve Medi-Cal patients and the uninsured.
November 2018
L.A. Care's Lynwood Family Resource Center hosted a free and fun community event on November 10 to celebrate its grand re-opening in a larger location at 3200 E. Imperial Hwy. The celebration featured dental and hearing screenings, face painting, Folklorico dancers, popcorn, rock climbing and much more for the 400-plus community members in attendance.
October 2018
On October 29, L.A. Care and UCLA signed a three-year contract which will allow our 2.2 million members to receive advanced and highly-specialized care (i.e., tertiary and quaternary care), when deemed medically necessary, at the world-class Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and the UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica.
October 2018
MM&M, previously known as Medical Marketing & Media, named L.A. Care's Elevating Healthcare ads as the Best Multicultural Campaign for 2018. L.A. Care's campaign was deemed "uplifting" and was recognized for going beyond language translation with imagery that captured the diverse cultures of Los Angeles County.
September 2018
Augustavia Haydel, L.A. Care's General Counsel, received the Extraordinary and Inspirational Achievement Award from the Los Angeles County Medical Association (LACMA). As part of its 2018 Celebration of Women in Medicine event, LACMA recognized Ms. Haydel for her dedication to diversity and inclusion in health care.
August 2018
Twenty physicians participated in the second session of L.A. Care's Physician Leadership Program. This program increases the leadership and management skills of physicians serving the health care needs of our most vulnerable members – those struggling with homelessness, trauma from incarceration, poverty and mental health issues. The six-month program equips participating physicians with skills and ideas to make meaningful change in practice management.
July 2018
L.A. Care's Pacoima Family Resource Center hosted a back-to-school fair on July 28, providing free school supplies and backpacks to hundreds of community members. Many families brought their kids for free haircuts in preparation for the new school year, and together enjoyed the event's fun activities, including rock wall climbing and face painting. The Palmdale and Boyle Heights Family Resource Centers also held similar back-to-school health fairs the following month.
June 2018
L.A. Care recognized eight medical students with a "white coat ceremony" on June 19, celebrating their selection as the first recipients of our Elevating the Safety Net scholarships. Four students from David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and four from Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science received full medical school scholarships, with the goal of clearing the enormous debt that may otherwise halt them from working in the Los Angeles County safety net. The scholars were also presented with stethoscopes by young children, symbolizing the nurturing care these new doctors will be giving back to the community.
May 2018
Accompanied by our Communications and Community Relations team, 20 L.A. Care Community Advisory Council members traveled to Sacramento on May 22 for Advocacy Day. The members met with their elected representatives to advocate for Assembly Bill 2965 and Senate Bill 974 to expand Medi-Cal coverage to all income-eligible adults, regardless of immigration status.
May 2018
The Los Angeles Business Journal 2018 Book of Lists ranked L.A. Care as the largest health plan in Los Angeles County for the third year in a row. We're proud to have more members in L.A. County than any other health plan, and remain dedicated to providing them with high quality health care and critically-needed community resources.
January 2018
A young woman named Ma'Lissa was referred to our Social Services department by a local hospital after a high-risk pregnancy. The mother of twins was struggling with homelessness, but secured permanent housing thanks to the $20 million commitment L.A. Care made to Brilliant Corners back in April 2017.
September 2017
The Achievable Foundation recognized L.A. Care's leadership in health care for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities with the Achievers Award. L.A. Care was honored for its partnership in expanding medical services to patients with developmental disabilities.
July 2017
National Medical Fellowships (NMF) honored L.A. Care for excellence in health care leadership as part of its Champion of Health Awards.
April 2017
Celebrates 20 years of serving Los Angeles County.
March 2017
Reaches two million enrolled Medi-Cal members.