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Friday, January 15, 2010 | 9:37 AM
Robert K. Ross, M.D.
Words fail us when it comes to fully expressing the suffering and pain felt today by the Haitian people. The unimaginable tragedy in Haiti is best captured by the photographs and videos that continue to spill across our newspapers, computer screens and into our living rooms.
There is a popular expression, especially among African-American churchgoers, that goes like this: "There, but for the grace of God, go I..." It is an expression used to indicate a sense of "connectedne...
Monday, December 14, 2009 | 2:25 PM
Robert K. Ross, M.D.
It's been almost a year since I blogged about the two big themes shaping our work at The California Endowment: our new Building Healthy Communities strategy, and how we and others in the nonprofit community were weathering the economic crisis. In honor of a favorite song of mine from that old Motown crooner, Marvin Gaye, I titled that update What's Goin' On?
As the close of 2009 draws near, it seems like a good time to bring you another verse of What's Goin' On? with this update on our strate...
Monday, November 23, 2009 | 9:45 AM
Robert K. Ross, M.D.
Things That I Am Thankful For.
Being alive and healthy, and blessed with family and friends
Being employed with a job that I love
Residing in a nation that is at peace within its borders
That health care reform is the subject of intense dialogue, discourse and debate
The opportunities for change that our crises have delivered us
The passion of neighborhood and grassroots leaders who strive and drive to improve disinvested and neglected communities - you are my heroes...
Monday, November 16, 2009 | 2:13 PM
Robert K. Ross, M.D.
The economic downturn heaped on top of an already-broken health system has many families and communities across the nation feeling much pain these days. But health pain in the community of South Los Angeles is a story that is decades old. The pain is symbolically captured by the shuttered Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center, closed a few years ago after a rather egregious and very public episode of a Latina woman who literally collapsed and died on the floor of the emergency room ...
Tuesday, September 29, 2009 | 10:33 AM
Robert K. Ross, M.D.
In a national and state political environment seemingly dominated by warring ideologies, health reform tension, state budget cuts, and unemployment woes, a dose of fresh air and sanity broke through this past week. I am referring to the Governor's signature of a bipartisan-supported legislation (okay, it was mostly Democrats, but I'll take only a handful of Republicans along with Democrats on anything these days) defining a public-private partnership to rescue the state's Healthy Familie...
Thursday, July 16, 2009 | 7:26 AM
Robert K. Ross, M.D.
As the health care debate proceeds, we must all work to ensure prevention isn't once again pushed aside. This article of mine delves into the financial and other issues related to health care reform and ran in the Huffington Post (July 16, 2009):
Not even the most brazen of hedge funds promises a 500 percent return.
While our government has recently poured hundreds of billions into auto companies, banks and financial services firms, those investments are far from a sure...
Wednesday, July 1, 2009 | 7:38 AM
The California Endowment Staff
The California Endowment is hosting a one-day forum with national and local experts to learn how foundations can enhance their place-based and healthy community missions with mission investments. You'll be able follow the forum sessions in our Live Blog. To learn more, visit the Mission Investing Forum Web site.
4:45 p.m.: Kathlyn Mead concludes the sessions and thanks the audience for coming.
4:30 p.m.: Tina Castro, Director, Mission Related Invest...
Tuesday, June 9, 2009 | 4:47 PM
The California Endowment Staff
Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins, CEO of Green for All, stops by the Center for Healthy Communities tonight (June 9) at 6 p.m. to share how her organization is working to create healthier and more prosperous communities through green jobs, and what you can do to stand up for people and the planet. The event will be moderated by Darren Moore, founder of Ecovations, a certified green building and design company, and co-host of Alter Eco on Discovery's Planet Green TV N...
Monday, June 1, 2009 | 3:14 PM
Robert K. Ross, M.D.
Fixing Our Problems Through Truth and ResolveInsanity was formally introduced to chaos a few weeks ago with the failure of several ballot measures sponsored by the governor and legislative leaders to rescue our dilapidated budget. As if we needed any more evidence, California's system of budget and fiscal governance can now be officially declared to be in shambles. The governor is now proposing, in the May Revise edition of the state budget, cuts in health, social services an...
Tuesday, May 12, 2009 | 2:15 PM
California Endowment Staff
Tonight's Center Scene public program Who Glues Your Community Together through Food? will mix food, community and storytelling by NPR's The Kitchen Sisters.
Because of the overwhelming response to this event, Endowment staffers
will live blog it for those who can't wait for the vidcast of the
program next week.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009 | 11:34 AM
Robert K. Ross, M.D.
I just finished reading the four-year evaluation report on our Healthy Eating, Active Communities (HEAC) program, and I'm feeling inspired.
One of The Endowment's signature programs, HEAC brings together local leaders in different sectors, with the goal of making their communities healthier places to live, work and learn-for the long-term. HEAC uses a fundamentally different approach than traditional public education campaigns. Instead of telling people to change their behaviors withou...
Friday, April 10, 2009 | 11:20 AM
Robert K. Ross, M.D.
Earlier this week, The Endowment was honored to host the final White House Regional Forum on Health Reform. It was quite energizing to feel the excitement in the standing-room only crowd of ordinary citizens, business people and health leaders -- from all sides of the political spectrum -- who share the common passion of making health reform a reality. Now.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Gov. Chris Gregoire of Washington spoke eloquently about the need for both personal responsibility, which i...
Monday, April 6, 2009 | 8:59 AM
The California Endowment
The staff of The California Endowment provides a play-by-play of the Fifth White House Regional Forum on Health Reform today (April 6) beginning at 10:30 a.m. P.S.T. Watch the event live on healthreform.gov or Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's Web site (http://gov.ca.gov/). Please feel free to add a comment below.
Thanks for visiting our live blog and feel free to add to the discussion below.
12:38 p.m.: Dr. Oz concludes the meeting by saying that people need to go to the Web sites healthre...
Friday, April 3, 2009 | 2:27 PM
Robert K. Ross, M.D.
On Monday, The California Endowment has the distinct honor of hosting the final White House Regional Forum on Health Reform in Los Angeles. The invitation-only event is being held in collaboration with the White House and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's Office with a goal of engaging Californians in the debate about health care reform.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Gov. Chris Gregoire of Washington State will lead the meeting along with President Barack Obama's Domestic Policy Adviser Me...
Thursday, March 26, 2009 | 5:39 PM
Robert K. Ross, M.D.
About a week ago, Los Angeles County officials announced a creative strategy to reopen the shuttered Martin Luther King Jr. Medical Center. As the green-clad guard at the gate announced to Dorothy and crew in The Wizard of Oz, my reaction was the same: "Well, bust my buttons."
OK, I get that it's "just a plan," and there are several "ifs" standing in the way of successful execution. I was aware for several months that county officials, the Governor's office and University of California r...
Thursday, February 26, 2009 | 9:43 AM
Robert K. Ross, M.D.
You can guesstimate my approximate age because I'm an old Motown kind of guy. Among my favorite artists is the dearly departed Marvin Gaye - especially his timeless classic "What's Going On?" In this tune, Marvin imagines a series of conversations with folks in his neighborhood, musing on topics from how the local baseball team is doing to the lofty socio-economic challenges of the day. And those lyrics hold true today: Some four decades later, we're still confronting som...
Friday, January 30, 2009 | 9:05 AM
Robert K. Ross, M.D.
At The California Endowment, a fair amount of change is underway as we position ourselves for a new strategy, and a new set of realities. In the coming weeks we will begin saying "goodbye" to a number of our wonderful California Endowment staff as they transition to new careers and innovative endeavors. As a foundation we are not immune to the reality of a volatile marketplace and the necessity of change and "rightsizing" in order to continue our mission. Why the Changes?
The ...
Friday, January 16, 2009 | 5:03 PM
Robert K. Ross, M.D.
This week's blog was inspired by a speech President and CEO Robert K. Ross, M.D., presented at the annual breakfast of the YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In few days, we will bear witness to the previously unimaginable reality that an African-American will place his left hand on a Bible, used by Abraham Lincoln at his first inauguration, thrust his right hand in the air, and look the American people in the eye to be sworn in...
Tuesday, January 13, 2009 | 4:30 PM
Robert K. Ross, M.D.
"Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?"
- Martin Luther King Jr.
There's been a movement afoot to turn January's Martin Luther King Jr. holiday into more than a day off - and into a national day of service, where people give back to their respective communities, keeping his tenets of social justice and nonviolence front-of-mind.
The call to service was started by former Pennsylvania U.S. Senator Harris Wofford and Atlanta Congressman John Lew...
Tuesday, December 23, 2008 | 4:33 PM
Robert K. Ross, M.D.
I don't need to tell you that this has been a difficult year for many nonprofits and their families. Even The Endowment's corpus was not immune from stock market fluctuations, and right now we're looking and both short- and long-term options to help our grantees and other nonprofits weather this storm. It seems that I've heard the terms "economic downturn," "financial crisis" and finally, "recession," so many times over the past few months that I don't want to focus on what's go...
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