The Catalina Island Health Foundation, the nonprofit organization that supports the only hospital and primary care clinic on the island, held its annual fundraising benefit on Saturday, August 3, where it recognized L.A. Care Health Plan for its $2 million grant to help keep the hospital open. In January of this year, the CEO of Catalina Island Health reported that the hospital was running out of money and might not be able to stay open past June 2024. L.A. Care recognized that the closure of the hospital would be catastrophic for the island’s 4,200 residents and one million visitors each year, leaving all dependent on helicopter transport to the mainland for emergency care.
In April 2024, at the urging of the health plan’s CEO, the L.A. Care Board of Governors unanimously approved the grant to help sustain the hospital until the end of the year. The grant is not a permanent solution, but a lifeline to give Catalina Island Health the time it needs to find a permanent solution.
The $2 million grant is a part of L.A. Care’s $205 million Elevating the Safety Net, an initiative launched in 2018 to address a growing physician shortage in Los Angeles County. It includes multiple programs and grants to recruit and retain highly qualified primary care physicians in the county safety net. Elevating the Safety Net is part of L.A. Care’s commitment to advancing health equity for members and their communities, giving everyone the fair and just opportunity to be as healthy as possible.