BERKELEY, Calif. & LONG BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Intrepid Ascent and Dignity Health - St. Mary Medical Center, a member of CommonSpirit Health, have partnered on an initiative to guide Long Beach’s community-based organizations (CBOs) as they navigate and explore the opportunities within California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM). The goal of CalAIM is to improve the health for millions of Medi-Cal participants, including those with the greatest needs in the Long Beach community.
Sponsored by St. Mary Medical Center (SMMC), the partnership aims to help CBOs understand CalAIM and consider how they might be able to participate in the program. SMMC has a long history of partnership with CBOs and has connected the Long Beach community to referral resources offered by its outpatient clinics, including the family clinic, OB/GYN clinic, and CARE Center. These preventive and specialty services are offered along with the full range of support provided through CalAIM.
“St. Mary Medical Center is embracing their leadership role in supporting local community-based organizations, helping them learn more about important policy changes in our local health and human services landscape,” said Marc Rosen, System Director, Community Impact and Partnerships, CommonSpirit Health. “The CommonSpirit system office is excited about the potential of this project to further support and collaborate with local community organizations.”
Some of CalAIM’s objectives include connecting participants to social services such as food programs, doulas, and housing to better coordinate care. Intrepid and St. Mary Medical Center are working together to help CBOs in Long Beach learn how they can engage with healthcare innovation efforts within CalAIM — collaborating on community health initiatives, improving care coordination, and finding ways to make healthcare more accessible and effective for patients.
“CalAIM has the potential to greatly benefit our local communities — and it is also a little complicated. The California Department of Health Care Services highly encourages managed care plans to engage and contract with the local community providers who have been serving the community for decades,” said Lauren Pennachio, Director of Community Health Transformation, Intrepid Ascent. “St. Mary Medical Center is leveraging its role as an anchor institution in the Long Beach community to make CalAIM discussions more accessible to local CBOs. This will help nurture a more local and diverse care team that extends beyond the four walls of the hospital. Intrepid is proud to bring together the collective expertise of these local providers to create an approach that centers on the Long Beach community.”
About Intrepid Ascent
Intrepid Ascent partners with clients in a collaborative ecosystem approach that intersects policy, technology, and change management for lasting progress. We guide whole-person care initiatives across the country with our population health and cross-sector expertise. For more information about Intrepid Ascent, please visit www.intrepidascent.com.
About Dignity Health - St. Mary Medical Center
Founded as a faith-based hospital in 1923 by the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, Dignity Health - St. Mary Medical Center is a 360-bed, acute care, nonprofit hospital located in Long Beach, California. The hospital offers a full complement of services, including a Level II trauma center, cardiac and vascular center, surgical weight loss, maternity, and the CARE Center, which is a recognized PrEP Center of Excellence. The hospital shares a legacy of humankindness with Dignity Health, one of the largest healthcare systems. Visit dignityhealth.org/stmarymedical for more information.
