French Hospital Medical Center (FHMC), which along with Arroyo Grande Community Hospital (AGCH) and Marian Regional Medical Center (MRMC) are Dignity Health’s Central Coast hospitals, recently received a $10,000 grant from the Bank of America Charitable Foundation. Grant funds will be used to support a new bilingual community outreach and education program – Sano Corazon, Vida Sana (Healthy Heart, Healthy Life).
This program will conduct bilingual outreach to underserved Spanish-speaking Hispanic/Latino communities of San Luis Obispo County using a ‘Promotoras’ model to educate community members on basic cardiovascular health and healthy eating, as well as provide free exercise classes. Programs using Promotoras, community health workers who lives in the communities they serve, have proven to be successful in breaking through cultural and linguistic barriers often encountered with health education and prevention programs. FHMC Promotoras will teach Healthy for Life nutrition classes, Zumba exercises classes, and provide basic cardiovascular education to their communities. All program components will be offered free of charge and in Spanish.
Over the past seven years, Bank of America has supported FHMC with $70,000 in grant funds. These grants have helped provide mentoring for student nurses, free mammograms for underserved women, cancer support groups for Spanish speaking patients, support for homeless patients, and now cardiovascular health education and outreach to Spanish-speaking community members.
“We are grateful to Bank of America for their continued support,” says Alan Iftiniuk, FHMC president/CEO. “Bank of America continues to be a truly compassionate community partner in enhancing access to health care services for members of our community.”
For more information or to make a donation, call the FHMC Foundation at 805.542.6496 or visit www.supportfrenchhospital.org
About French Hospital Medical Center
French Hospital Medical Center, located in San Luis Obispo, California, is rated one of the Top 100 Hospitals in the nation and one of the Top 50 Cardiac Hospitals in the nation by Thomson Reuters. The Copeland, Forbes, and Rossi Cardiac Care Center provide the latest innovative cardiac and imaging technology on the Central Coast. The hospital’s current modernization and redesign project is an example of the commitment to meet the growing needs of the community with lifesaving advancements in medicine coupled with excellent, compassionate care. The hospital is home to the unique Hearst Cancer Resource Center offering free education, resources and support to cancer patients and their families. French is a Dignity Health member of the Central Coast which also includes Arroyo Grande Community Hospital in Arroyo Grande, CA and Marian Regional Medical Center in Santa Maria, CA. Dignity Health of the Central Coast is an integrated network of top quality hospitals, physicians from the most prestigious medical schools, and comprehensive outpatient services including primary care offices, premier ambulatory surgery centers, technologically-advanced laboratories and imaging centers and a full service home health agency; all recognized for quality, safety and service. Each hospital is supported by an active philanthropic Foundation to help meet the growing health care needs of our communities.