Bob's Blog: Newsroom

A No-Brainer: Investing in Prevention Saves Lives and Money

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 17:09:30 GMT

When it comes to real estate, we’ve all heard that a good investment can be summed up in three words: Location. Location. Location. When it comes to investing in health, we’re now finding resounding evidence to back up the three buzzwords public ...

Disappointment of the Week: The Wall Street Journal

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 11:29:41 GMT

So last week I had the honor of recognizing the efforts of the American Medical Association as our “hero of the week,” having publicly apologized for racist and discriminatory behavior is decades past. This week I turn to the editorial staff ...

Hero of the Week: The AMA!

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 16:28:31 GMT

Wow. Just when I had written off my physician colleagues at the American Medical Association (AMA) for not asserting meaningful leadership around issues of health and social justice, they go off and hit a home run. For the better part of a ...

AB 624: Death For A Noble Cause

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:51:33 GMT

Two weeks ago Assemblymember Joe Coto of San Jose, with the support of several ethnic minority legislators, dropped his effort to pass AB 624. This bill would have mandated racial, ethnic and other “diversity” data in grant making by a certain ...

Why Ben Bernanke is My Hero of the Week

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 15:46:47 GMT

Life is full of wonderful little surprises, and my surprise hero for this week is Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. I know that the U.S. economy is in tatters at the moment, with gas prices, food prices and unemployment rising -- while ...

Weighing Conflicting Priorities

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 12:06:52 GMT

Last week I was honored to provide the commencement address at the UCLA School of Public Affairs. But the beauty of this moment was complicated by a difficult decision that I had to make about whether to deliver the address at all. As you may be ...

Why Would We Oppose AB 624???

Tue, 27 May 2008 16:41:21 GMT

As a private foundation that has unabashedly embraced diversity and addressing the needs of communities of color, some question why The California Endowment has taken an ”oppose” position to AB 624. This bill, making its way through the state ...

Getting Ready for Reform...

Tue, 20 May 2008 17:00:00 GMT

Guest blogging is Anthony Wright, executive director of Health Access California, the statewide health care consumer advocacy coalition. A version of this is cross-posted at the Health Access WeBlog, at ...

L.A. County and MLK Hospital: Quo Vadis?*

Thu, 15 May 2008 16:40:54 GMT

I, along with many others, have been patiently waiting for a signal that the leaders of Los Angeles County's government are ready to embark on a decidedly different path on finding a solution to the health care conflagration that is South Los ...

Council on Foundations Acceptance Speech

Wed, 07 May 2008 10:02:05 GMT

On May 6, Robert K. Ross, M.D., president and CEO of The California Endowment, was named the Council on Foundation’s Distinguished Grantmaker of the Year Award. Here is his acceptance speech: I am as humbled to receive this award as I ...

Moving 'California Forward'

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 12:00:23 GMT

Last week an ambitious effort to fix a dysfunctional California state government was launched. Titled "California Forward," the initiative features two highly regarded leaders -- one a Democrat in Leon Panetta, and the other a Republican in Tom ...

Why This Strategic Direction?

Wed, 05 Mar 2008 14:44:26 GMT

Our Board of Directors, management team, staff and consultants spent the better part of a year methodically examining evaluation reports, environmental scans and data trends on a broad range of health issues facing California. So there is a fair ...

Let's Maintain Momentum on Health Reform

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 15:49:28 GMT

This post was originally published by the Capitol Weekly on Jan. 31, 2008. It has been reprinted with permission. It has been one year from euphoria to defeat. On the morning of January 8, 2007, I sat on the dais in Sacramento that served as the ...

Merry Blogging and a Top 5 List

Fri, 21 Dec 2007 17:11:11 GMT

I am one of those types that actually gets pretty sappy this time of year. As the year draws to a close, I become more reflective, take stock of what has occurred, what is happening, and recommit to an even more purposeful coming year. And I also ...

Giving Thanks...and Public Health's Dirty Little Secret

Mon, 19 Nov 2007 17:18:44 GMT

For starters, in the spirit of the Thanksgiving week, let me pass big-time kudos to the leadership of the United Way of Greater Los Angeles for spearheading the first-ever “HomeWalk” this past Saturday. More than 3,500 souls gathered to walk ...

Time for McCone Version 2.0

Mon, 05 Nov 2007 10:45:19 GMT

Forty-two years ago, a blue-ribbon panel of civic leaders in Los Angeles issued a report in the wake of the 1965 riots in Watts. Called the McCone Commission, the report examined a range of inequities and disparities that plagued the predominantly ...

If I Had a Hammer: The Question of National Health Reform

Wed, 31 Oct 2007 09:43:22 GMT

The question for the week: if you were czar (or at least the President) who would you pick to draft a plan to fix the U.S. health system? While you take a moment to ponder this utterly hypothetical question, I can save you the energy of exercising ...

The Perils of Pauline

Tue, 23 Oct 2007 15:10:41 GMT

Watching the last few weeks of California’s health care reform saga reminds me of the old silent Perils of Pauline film series of the early 20th century. Pauline was the prototypical damsel-in-distress who was constantly at perilous risk, only to ...

Hero of the Week

Tue, 25 Sep 2007 14:40:53 GMT

In the intensifying and unrelenting drama of health reform in California, my “Hero of the Week” is the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce. While some business trade and membership organizations seem to be on the sidelines in demanding health reform, ...

Waiting to Exhale

Mon, 10 Sep 2007 11:54:07 GMT

Yes, I am thrilled that our elected officials in Sacramento finally agreed to a budget deal, freeing them up to begin the process of addressing a broken health system in California. Far less thrilling, however, were the veto actions taken by the ...

California Spoke...Now Will Our Leaders Listen?

Thu, 23 Aug 2007 16:27:29 GMT

On Saturday, Aug. 11, I had the opportunity to visit the democracy of America’s future, and through the lens of our health care system. At the CaliforniaSpeaks event, nearly 3,500 Californians gathered in eight regions across ...

Prevention, Poverty and Place

Mon, 02 Jul 2007 14:52:22 GMT

Kudos to Tavis Smiley for orchestrating the first presidential candidates forum featuring minority journalists and hosted by a historically black university. And also to the Democratic candidates -- with their Republican counterparts slated to ...

Sick: The Untold Story of America's Health Care Crisis---and the People Who Pay the Price

Mon, 14 May 2007 10:26:00 GMT

As CEO of The Endowment, I can do a shameless plug every now and then in my new blog. Especially when it’s a subject that interests most of us -- and affects us all. Author Jonathan Cohn will be speaking about his new book Sick: The Untold Story ...