Annual Report 2002-2003
Health Care
Taking responsibility for the greater good
Kenneth Green has lived on the Peninsula for more than 30 years, working in the financial services field. "I love my work very much," he said. "I've also enjoyed the services of the Palo Alto Medical Clinic for many years, and I strongly believe that I need to pay my fair share for all I receive from them."
As a financial professional, Kenneth is well aware that the cost of living in Palo Alto is among the highest in the nation. "We need to attract younger, talented people to bring their ideas to the Palo Alto Medical Foundation," he said, "but the cost of living is absolutely prohibitive." Kenneth recently discovered that PAMF has a fund to help new physicians afford housing. "I would never have thought that a physician would need to be subsidized because the housing costs were so high," he said.
For more than two decades, Kenneth has been a volunteer teacher for Project Inspire, a course on life skills at an inner-city school in San Jose. He also volunteers with the Homeless Veterans Rehabilitation Program at the Veterans Administration health care facility in Menlo Park. "My concern for the Foundation falls into the same category as my volunteer work," he said. "I want to give back, and this is how I choose to do that.
"I've always assumed that the Foundation was in good shape financially," noted Kenneth. "I only realized recently that they're a not-for-profit, and they lose $1,000 a year for every Medicare patient they treat, regardless of the patient's ability to pay. With any organization, the first objective shouldn't be profit – it should be service. But as a businessman, I know that you can't run a company without a healthy bottom line. To continue providing the best quality of service, PAMF needs financial support from its community.
"At the end of the year, PAMF is on my short list for donations," he concluded. "I give not only because I benefit from their services, but also because this organization is a vital part of my community. I know the need is there, and I feel that, in my own small way, I can make a difference. For me, it's a matter of conscience."
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"How can you put a price on superlative medical care? Time and life are our most precious gifts, and if I can receive excellent medical care from a financially healthy organization as I grow older, I'll be better off. For that, I need to contribute. What a shame it would be if the level of service from the Palo Alto Medical Foundation were to decline just as the health care needs of the public were to increase. Now is a very crucial time for people to contribute."