Coalition Gets Grant for Health Care Study

A coalition of community groups has received a $135,000 grant from the California Wellness Foundation to study health care in Hollywood and Echo Park, and could get up to $1 million over five years to revamp the health system in those neighborhoods.

Led by the Los Angeles Free Clinic and Childrens Hospital, the coalition will first conduct a health-oriented needs assessment, including door-to-door surveys of residents, officials said at a City Hall news conference Wednesday. The coalition wants to outline a radical broad-based approach to health care that could include everything from immunizations at fire stations to school-based checkups.

“We’re committed to being on the cutting edge of health care and we really do see this as the future,” said Mary Ringwater of the free clinic. “We’re ready to get to work.”