Arrangement is to assess and improve cultural competency

CINCINNATI; Wednesday, September 23, 2009 - The Center for Multicultural Competence in Healthcare Organizations (CMCHO) has been selected to provide a cultural competency assessment and support services for Community Regional Medical Center, one of three Community Medical Centers facilities in Fresno, California.

A one-year engagement, the goal of the project is the development of recommendations, a work plan and training curriculum to improve the cultural competency of Community Regional. At the end of the 12-month planning and implementation period, the cultural competency plan will be considered for expansion into all Community Medical Centers facilities, developing a model for other regional medical centers providing inpatient and outpatient healthcare to diverse patient populations.

Having completed the assessment phase of this project, CMCHO will commence the development phase in October 2009.

"Community Medical Centers is finding a way to meet the varied needs of a fast-growing multicultural population," said Lawrence W. James, CEO of CMCHO. "Community is correct in realizing this approach is essential to the continued health of not just their healthcare system, but also our national economy. Cultural competency has become and will continue to be a significant business imperative for every healthcare provider in the 21st century."

Expected outcomes from this project include:

• Greater understanding of Community Regional's level of cultural competency.

• Strengthened organizational commitment to cultural competency, including diversifying staff, faculty, board and medical professionals, establishing a diversity task force and, developing a diversity vision, strategy and work plan.

• Improved access to cultural competency training and skill development for Community Regional's staff, medical professionals and volunteers.

• Strengthened capability and capacity to provide culturally competent health services to all Community Regional patients in general.

"It's not enough for the hospital to just have interpreters on stand-by to translate a physician's instructions or explain medical choices," said Jack Chubb, CEO of Community Regional. "In order to provide a higher level of care for our diverse patient population, we must also understand how different cultures approach health care, respond to drugs, therapies and procedures, perceive and describe pain, delegate decision-making within families and deal with childbirth, death and dying."

As an organizational, Community Regional is faced with several challenges among the multicultural population it serves, including high unemployment and poverty rates for a healthcare system where asthma and diabetes rates are among the nation's highest. Approximately 75 percent of patients admitted by Community Regional are enrolled in state or federally funded health care plans that don't fully cover the costs of providing care.

This engagement was made possible by a one-year grant from the California Endowment to fund an assessment and analysis of the cultural competency at Community Regional Medical Center.

About CMCHO

The Center for Multicultural Competence in Healthcare Organizations (CMCHO) is an independent organization created to assist healthcare organizations in the advancement of culturally competent care within their facilities. Using the standards developed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health, CMCHO conducts on-site assessments and surveys of healthcare organizations and provides follow-on consulting and training services to the same. Its members evaluate leadership attitudes, beliefs and behaviors; current policies and procedures; and resulting clinical outcomes. For more information, call (513) 563-3004 or visit www.cmcho.com.

About Community Medical Centers

Community Medical Centers is the largest and most comprehensive hospital system in the San Joaquin Valley. It is a locally owned, not-for-profit health care system that operates three acute-care hospitals - Community Regional Medical Center, Clovis Community Medical Center and Fresno Heart & Surgical Hospital - as well as several long-term care and outpatient centers.

Community serves as the Valley's essential "safety-net" provider, caring for the uninsured and underinsured in a region considered among the most challenging in the nation for health care.

Community also is the region's largest private employer with 6,000 employees and more than 1,000 affiliated physicians. For more information, visit: http://www.communitymedical.org/index.htm.

For More Information:

Brian Clifford

513-791-8670, ext, 102

bclifford@rowhymarketing.com