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Improving the Quality of Life and Health Care in Jamaica and Los Angeles

Congratulations 2016 Southern California David Lawrence Community Service Award finalists - The Alliance of Jamaican and American Humanitarians

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About the David Lawrence Community Service Award

For more than a decade, the David Lawrence Community Service Award has recognized Kaiser Permanente employees and physicians throughout our regions who champion outstanding volunteer activities and initiatives to improve the health of our communities. The annual award is named in honor of David M. Lawrence, MD, former chairman and CEO of Kaiser Permanente, and a lifelong advocate for improving community health.

Two awardees are selected annually in each region for their significant contributions to improving the overall health of a community or population. Their commitments are focused on health and social issues, including increasing access to health care for the underserved, eliminating disparities in health outcomes of racial and ethnic minorities, and addressing the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age that can impact their health.  

This year’s Kaiser Permanente Southern California Region winners are Tony B. Lee, MD and the Alliance of Jamaican and American Humanitarians. They will each receive a $10,000 charitable contribution from Kaiser Permanente to the nonprofit organizations of their choice.

Alliance of Jamaican and American Humanitarians - West Los Angeles, Woodland Hills, Los Angeles and South Bay Medical Service Areas, Regional Offices and Mid-Atlantic Region

The members of the Alliance of Jamaican and American Humanitarians (AOJAH) provide health care services to rural, low-income Jamaican communities. In partnership with the Jamaican Ministry of Health, AOJAH has provided care to more than 7,700 people in an effort to improve the quality of life and health care in Jamaica. The team, comprised of physicians, pharmacists, nurses and other health care professionals, shares best practices with local hospitals and mentors Jamaican physicians on how to perform laparoscopic surgeries. The AOJAH has set up an innovative annual community clinic in Jamaica, where patients see a physician and are provided with medication for the year. Each patient receives a medical record number and identification card to ensure that the chronic and acute care needs of patients are being tracked and met.

Here in Los Angeles, the AOJAH hosts an annual health fair and provides more than 150 boxed lunches a month for the Skid Row homeless population in Los Angeles. The group also awards scholarships to students both in the United States and Jamaica. Their engagement of high school and medical school students through the scholarship programs and medical missions is done to introduce students to the importance of community service and encourage their interest in medical careers.

The AOJAH exemplifies the passion and values of Kaiser Permanente’s mission to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve.