Saint Francis Memorial Hospital & St. Mary’s Medical Center Award $116,000 in Community Health Improvement Grants to Two Local Nonprofits

San Francisco, Calif. (March 8, 2023) – Through two local collaboratives, Dignity Health San Francisco will provide $116,000 in funding to community-based organizations to support the health and wellness of San Francisco County families, youth and individuals who are most in need. 

“The guiding mission with the Community Health Improvement Grants Program is to ensure we support the most underserved among us, and it couldn’t be done without collaboration,” said Daryn Kumar, Saint Francis Memorial Hospital and St. Mary’s Medical Center president. “We are so proud to be collaborating with these organizations to improve the quality of life in San Francisco.” By providing funding to collaboratives of nonprofit organizations, they are able to leverage their individual strengths and maximize impact for the neediest in the community. 

Grants were awarded to the following organizations: 

The Asian Health Collaborative which includes Self-Help for the Elderly, Gum Moon Women's Residence and Chinatown YMCA supports Chinese patients with culturally competent post-hospitalization services to help them integrate back into the community. The program pairs the patient with a case manager to meet with the patient in the hospital and work with the hospital's care team to ensure the patient receives follow-up care and support as they recuperate. Support includes translation and care coordination between the patient/family and hospital, benefits coordination, senior escort services and coordination with the patient's primary care physician. Last month, program staff were able to find housing for a patient and stabilize them in the community with support services. 

Community Grows is cultivating healthy youth through growing gardens in low-income, diverse communities. Their vision is that all youth are able to benefit from the joy and healing of nature-based outdoor education, and develop the tools, confidence and resources to navigate and challenge structural injustices. Their youth development programs provide a continuum of garden-based, hands-on environmental and health education programs at no cost to participants. This grant will support a new space and also uplift existing garden spaces where people from the community can access and grow healthy food, participate in outdoor recreation and come together in a safe way. They will also create engaging cooking lessons and resources for youth and other members of the communities they serve.

About Saint Francis Memorial Hospital 

Saint Francis Memorial Hospital is an accredited, not-for-profit community hospital that has been providing exceptional health care in San Francisco for more than 100 years. As San Francisco’s only downtown hospital, Saint Francis is uniquely situated to care for international and domestic visitors, as well as the residents that make up San Francisco’s diverse population. Located atop Nob Hill, Saint Francis is home to the largest burn center in Northern California, the Bothin Burn Center, the Saint Francis Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Institute, the Gender Institute and the Center for Pain Management, to name a few. 

About Dignity Health St. Mary’s Medical Center 

St. Mary's Medical Center, sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy and part of Dignity Health, has cared for the people of the San Francisco Bay Area since 1857, when it was founded by eight Sisters of Mercy from Ireland. We are an accredited, not-for-profit hospital located across the street from Golden Gate Park. As a full-service facility, we're home to the nation’s first digital cardiac catheterization laboratory, innovative orthopedic and spine care, state-of-the-art cancer center, and comprehensive rehabilitation programs.