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CORONAVIRUS/COVID-19 INFORMATION HERE

Irvine Medical Center

Community Health is central to our mission because healthy communities are where people thrive. Like our approach to medicine, our work in the community takes a prevention-focused, evidence-based approach. In pursuit of our mission we go beyond traditional corporate philanthropy and grant-making to leverage our internal resources with our physician expertise, clinical practices, health education expertise, and technical assistance. Our commitment to community includes a robust engagement process that lifts the voice of community members and highlights priority health needs in our 2022 Community Health Needs Assessments (CHNA). Through this process, Southern California Kaiser Foundation Hospitals identified urgent social and economic factors that negatively impact community health.

Based on the CHNA findings, the 2022 Implementation Strategy (IS) Plans of Southern California Kaiser Foundation Hospitals apply a health equity lens to outline our commitment to invest, partner, and drive change to improve the health of individuals in communities we serve. While each Kaiser Foundation Hospital IS plan is unique to its service area, the high-level focus areas and strategic priorities we aim to address across Southern California in partnership with community organizations are listed below:

Mental and Behavioral Health: Mental & behavioral health affects all areas of life, including a person’s physical well-being, ability to work and perform well in school, and to participate fully in family and community activities. Example measures include access to mental health care, poor mental health and stress, and suicide and deaths of despair (Note: there is a separate need category for substance use).

Income and Employment: Economic opportunity provides individuals with jobs, income, a sense of purpose, and opportunities to improve their economic circumstances over time. Example measures include poverty and unemployment rates, and income inequality.

Access to Care: Access to comprehensive, quality health care services is critical for ensuring quality of life. Example measures of access include health care coverage and uninsurance, access to oral health and specialty care, and birth outcomes. 

Housing: Safe and secure housing is essential for the health of individuals and families. Example measures include home ownership and homelessness, housing affordability, quality, and cost burden. 

Food Insecurity: Food insecurity occurs when people do not have enough resources to meet their basic needs, including having enough food to eat to lead an active, healthy life. Example measures include accessibility of retail food outlets, SNAP enrollment, and living in food-insecure households.

Across these areas, we work to inspire and support people to be healthier in all aspects of their lives, and build stronger, healthier communities. In addition to dedicating resources through Community Benefit, we also leverage substantial additional assets that improve community health, including our healthcare workforce volunteerism.

At Kaiser Permanente, we believe in using the full range of our organization’s assets to improve the health of the communities we serve. We regularly gather data and seek input from our community partners and members to inform our investments and to guide the development of strategies that can make long-term, sustainable change and improve health. We are pleased to share our 2022 Community Benefit Year-End report for Kaiser Foundation Hospitals in Anaheim and Irvine that summarize our efforts and highlight specific strategies and resources we deployed to respond to the prioritized health needs in those communities.

Note: While Kaiser Permanente is committed to addressing these needs, local medical centers will strategically and carefully invite community partners to apply for funding in order to address needs that align with the local Implementation Strategy Plans, which may have some variations of the strategic priorities listed above. Please scroll down to view the areas that are currently being funded in this medical center.

Irvine Medical Center Grants Program

Grantmaking is currently closed
Note

The Kaiser Permanente Irvine Medical Center 2023 Community Benefit Grants are awarded through a “By Invitation Only” grant process.

Kaiser Permanente Irvine provides grants to local nonprofit health and human service organizations that address the priority health needs for its community service area. The current funding priorities, funding timeline, and guidelines on how to apply are provided below.

If you would like to apply for Grant or Sponsorship Funding for a broader service area in Southern California or Nationally, visit this site for more information and to apply.

If you would like to apply for a local event sponsorship, such as: special fund raising events (luncheons, recognition dinners); conferences; symposia; public policy briefings; and health education forums; visit this site for more information and to apply. 

Current Grant Funding Priorities

Kaiser Permanente Irvine Medical Center is currently focused on supporting the following health needs and related strategic priorities. Reviewing this area will help to ensure that your proposed grant project is aligned with these priorities.

Mental and Behavioral Health

  • Support efforts that improve and build the current and emerging mental health workforce to meet community needs
  • Support improved access and connection to mental healthcare in clinical and community settings

Income and Employment

  • Enhance career pathways by partnering with workforce development organizations to develop and implement job training and placement programs, including pre-apprenticeship programs.
  • Support programs that improve high school attendance, achievement, and/or graduation for students of color in low income areas

Access to Care

  • Provide core support to safety net organizations, allowing these organizations to implement initiatives appropriate for the needs of their population (e.g., expansion of specialty care, providing more virtual care for nonsurgical specialties)
  • Support improved access and quality of medical care for persons experiencing homelessness

Housing

  • Support evidence-based housing stabilization assistance
  • Support the infrastructure and capacity of service providers to serve individuals at risk or experiencing homelessness

Food Insecurity

  • Support organizations that procure, recover and/or redistribute food to food insecure communities
  • Support organizations that distribute food such as medically tailored meals, prepared food, produce, or other food and meals to school children, families, and those in underserved communities

Applicant Eligibility

To be eligible for a Kaiser Permanente Irvine Medical Center Community Health grant, an applicant organization (or fiscal agent), must have operations in California and be one of the following types of nonprofit organizations:

  • 501 (c)(3) tax-exempt organization with a 509 (a) designation indicating that the organization is not a private foundation
  • A local, state, or federal government agency, including any of its subdivisions that perform substantial governmental functions

In addition, organizations must:

  • Provide direct services to disadvantaged and/or underserved populations that address funding priorities identified in the Kaiser Permanente Irvine Service Area Community Health Needs Assessment
  • Provide services within the geographic boundaries of Kaiser Permanente Irvine Service Area, which includes the communities of: Aliso Viejo, Capistrano Beach, Corona Del Mar, Costa Mesa, Dana Point, Foothill Ranch, Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach, Irvine, Ladera Ranch, Laguna Beach, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Woods, Lake Forest, Midway City, Mission Viejo, Newport Beach, Newport Coast, Rancho Santa Margarita, San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano, Santa Ana, Seal Beach, Silverado, Trabuco Canyon, Tustin, Westminster

Kaiser Permanente Irvine Medical Center Community Health does not consider funding requests from international, social, recreational clubs, or for the following:

  • Sports teams and tournaments (e.g., golf tournaments, tennis events, walks, and runs)
  • Individuals
  • Religious purposes
  • Partisan political activities
  • Endowments or memorials
  • Re-granting purposes to other organizations

Kaiser Permanente Irvine Medical Center will not consider requests from organizations that discriminate based on gender, age, economic status, educational background, race, color, ancestry, national origin, sexual orientation, gender expression, gender identity, or marital status in your programs, services, policies and administration. In addition, Community Health grants will not be awarded for activities, events, or programs organized or solely sponsored by alcohol, tobacco, pharmaceutical companies, or companies that produce firearms.

We generally do not provide grants for academic research, capital campaigns, event sponsorships (including community health fairs), or political campaigns.

Grant Award Parameters and Considerations

Preference will be given to requests based on the following considerations:

  • Organizations must be invited to submit an application. Organizations will receive an email inviting the organization to apply.
  • Request aligns with at least one of our community benefit grant funding priorities.
  • Services are provided to disadvantaged and/or underserved populations. 
  • General operating support  grant requests will be considered. If you are requesting a general operating support grant you will need to describe how the funds will be utilized.
  • Priority will be given to organizations that recognize the need for partnership and collaboration with other organizations that are meeting critical needs.

To view your submitted application click here.

Grantmaking Contact

Cheryl Vargo
Community Benefit Manager
(714) 796.2657

By the Numbers

$265,000
Total Grants Awarded in 2022

Looking for CHNA Reports?

You can find all the CHNA Reports organized by Year and Medical Center in the Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) Section of the Service Areas Page.

Downloads