Health Equity - California Health Care Foundation

Health Equity
All Californians deserve the opportunity to achieve their fullest potential for health. But, like the nation as a whole, California has long maintained policies, practices, and norms that give preferential treatment at the expense of Black, Latinx, Asian, Pacific Islander, and Indigenous people. CHCF is working with a wide range of partners to break down structural barriers to care and create a just health care system that is designed to redress, not perpetuate, the inequities that too many of our fellow Californians face.

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Envisioning a More Just and Inclusive Health Care System

October 15, 2021

Xenia Shih Bion

The new CHCF Health Equity Fellows program welcomes four participants who intend to become local or regional catalysts for health equity across California.

Digital Startup Is Transforming Mental Health Care in Schools

September 28, 2021

Behavioral Health, Health Equity, Investing in Innovation, Medi-Cal

The CHCF Health Innovation Fund has invested in Hazel Health’s vision for critical services for students and young adults.

Organizations React to Medi-Cal Managed Care Procurement Request for Proposals

Medi-Cal, Health Equity

In June DHCS issued a draft RFP for the first-ever statewide procurement for commercial Medi-Cal managed care plans. CHCF asked organizations to share the comments they submitted to the agency about the RFP. This report presents common themes from across those shared comments.

Improving Birth Equity in California’s Health Care System

Maternal Health, Health Equity

Improving Birth Equity in California's Health Care System is a quality-improvement initiative designed to improve birth care, experiences, and outcomes for, by, and with Black mothers and birthing people in California.

Advancing Black Health Equity

Health Equity, Workforce

CHCF is working with partners to understand the health care experiences of Black Californians and to reform the system to be more responsive to and effective at meeting their needs.

Seeking COVID Justice Through Policy Change

September 13, 2021

Health Equity, Homelessness & Health Care

Public Health Advocates, a California organization that advances policies to reduce health disparities, created an initiative to respond to the deep-rooted inequities brought into focus by the pandemic.

Podcast: The Nocturnists

The Nocturnists seeks to give voice to the experience of Black health care workers. This podcast is sponsored by CHCF.

Podcast: Birthright

Birthright is designed to unpack positive Black birth stories and celebrate joy and healing. This podcast is sponsored by CHCF.

Spreading the Stories of Joyful Black Births

Xenia Shih Bion

Health Equity, Maternal Health

Kimberly Seals Allers talks about her new podcast aimed at debunking negative media narratives about Black childbirth.

Health Policy Journal Focuses on Borders, Immigrants, and Health

Heather Tirado Gilligan

Health Equity, Medi-Cal

Stories That Caught Our Attention: Immigrants may experience lifelong health consequences as a result of US policy decisions.

Challenging Providers to Look Within Themselves

Stephanie Teleki

Maternal Health, Health Equity

A new California law aims to reduce maternal deaths by requiring perinatal providers to undergo implicit bias training. CHCF supported development of a free e-learning course with tools to help maternity care providers reshape their care.

Advancing Mental Health Equity in Medi-Cal

Behavioral Health, Medi-Cal, Health Equity

CHCF supports the California Pan-Ethnic Health Network in its work to advance equity in Medi-Cal mental health care through research, publications, and its Behavioral Health Equity Collaborative.

Health Disparities Require Bolder Action on Medi-Cal Managed Care Contracts

Christopher Perrone

Health Equity, Medi-Cal, Payment & Financing

The draft RFP for Medi-Cal managed care procurement is a significant step forward, but California must do more to eliminate disparities in access and outcomes

Achieving Health Equity for Black Californians: A Look at CHCF’s Newest Program

Katherine Haynes

Central to this work is the cultivation of a health care system that operates with a deep commitment to lifelong learning and self-critique in the pursuit of people-centered care.

Health Professionals and Patients in California: Speaking the Same Language

Workforce, Health Equity

This brief identifies policy strategies to increase the number of health professionals with language concordance — those that speak the same language as their patients. This is especially important in California where 44% of households speak a language other than English.