Whether it is a senior suffering from neglect, a special needs child struggling with obesity or a teen dealing with depression or dating violence, doctors are often among the first to witness unmet community health needs. That's why, four years ago, PAMF and its doctors joined forces to create a special philanthropic fund to help local nonprofit organizations create new initiatives to solve these types of problems.

Since 2007, the PAMF Community Endowment Fund has awarded 28 grants totaling more than $500,000 to make a real difference in the health and well being of underserved patients in the Bay Area.

One of the things that makes the PAMF Community Endowment Fund unique in that its members actively seek out initiatives that will help meet the needs of underserved individuals in the communities PAMF serves― instead of waiting for funding requests to come to them. The types of projects supported by the fund are diverse, but they all have one thing in common: They answer specific community health needs identified by PAMF doctors.

For example, as an internist at PAMF's Fremont Center and member of the physician committee that helps select which organizations to fund, Albert Wang, M.D., noticed that there were differences in how much access various ethnic groups had to community health services.

"In the East Bay, we have many Asian patients, and some had a lot of misunderstandings about Western medicine," he says. "There are some cultural differences in how Asians view asking for help."

To help correct this inequity, the Community Endowment Fund gave a $10,000 matching grant to the India Community Center to help its Healthcare Access for All project, which publicizes access to its free medical clinic to medically underserved people. Other grants have gone to help the homeless, the elderly, patients with chronic conditions like diabetes, and people who are uninsured and underinsured.

Learn more about PAMF's involvement in the community at pamf.org/community.