The Desert Healthcare District (DHCD) is a leading organization connecting local residents to health providers, facilities, programs, and services. Each year they grant an average of $4 million to nonprofit, community-based and provider-based organizations to assist residents – especially the underserved – in accessing vitally needed resources, such as primary and behavioral health care, housing,… Read more »
Community Health
Each Friday, patients at JFK Memorial Hospital receive a visit from Zane, a six-year-old standard poodle, trained as a therapy dog. Owner Sherri Halstead wanders from room to room, gently knocking on each door to ask the patients if they would like to spend a few minutes with Zane. For most, he offers the irresistible… Read more »
The time in your life between childhood and adulthood can be very challenging. Everyone expects you to be a grown up, but you may have no idea how to do that. Many young people in this age group also struggle with additional barriers including family dynamics, self-esteem, mental illness, even homelessness. This time in life can… Read more »
While communication technology is allowing health care professionals to be accessible to patients for specialty care when it may not otherwise be immediately available, we understand that some patients and potential users remain skeptical about the growth of telehealth. We have heard these comments when demonstrating our physical therapy teleMOVEMENT platform. Responses like this provide… Read more »
OneFuture Coachella Valley (OFCV) officially launched on March 1, 2017 as a non-profit in the Valley focused on a regional collaboration to assure all students – especially those in most need – attain higher education aligned with promising local industries such as health care, renewable energies and creative arts. While OneFuture may be new, their… Read more »
Imagine sitting at a long banquet table piled high with the most delicious, nutritious food imaginable, but when the servings are distributed, your plate remains empty. This is the reality for millions of people in California – ironic for the state which provides the nation with the vast majority of its fresh produce. The people… Read more »
As mentioned in the July/August Desert Health®, the Board of Directors of the Desert Healthcare District/Foundation had voted to establish a collective fund with up to $2 million as a challenge grant for a West Valley Homelessness Initiative and will match up to $2 million in contributions. Addressing homelessness is a critical goal that the… Read more »
Being told you have cancer is one of the scariest things that can happen to any person, their family and their friends. Fortunately, those in the Coachella Valley have a treasured place to turn to help them navigate all the questions, concerns and care that goes into fighting this disease. Gilda’s Club Desert Cities has… Read more »
Suppose I could offer you an opportunity to grow your future workforce? Growing your future workforce while impacting and mentoring thousands of young high school students is available through OneFuture Coachella Valley’s Business Engagement Team. Business leaders and owners taking part in this opportunity are also developing a pipeline of next generation talent. As business… Read more »
Three Coachella Valley chefs, Amanda Nees, Lorraine Ornelas and Stephen Lee, all make a point to source the majority of their ingredients directly from small family farms rather than ordering from a produce broker or food purveyor. When asked why they choose to conduct these weekly interactions themselves rather than outsourcing to timesaving middlemen, the… Read more »
In the summer of 2015, the newly formed UCR School of Medicine welcomed its first eight family medicine residents. With goals of attracting more doctors to the valley and increasing access to health care, the program is now entering its third year with a total of 24 residents. Has the program helped our community? The… Read more »
Concerned about the recent closure of Roy’s Desert Resource Center, an emergency homeless shelter located in north Palm Springs, and the increasing number of homeless in the Coachella Valley, the Desert Healthcare District (DHCD) Board of Directors voted to establish a collective fund with up to $2 million as a challenge grant for a West… Read more »
At 93.8%, Nebraska boasts the highest graduation rate according to U.S. News & World Report while Florida laments the lowest, at 65.8% (Oct. 2016). California doesn’t make the top ten (at 82%), though so many people want to visit, yet can’t afford to live here. How could California improve its educational rankings, to increase the… Read more »
Two local teens from the First Tee® of the Coachella Valley were selected among hundreds of applicants to attend the organization’s national events. Dana Condon (17) of Palm Desert and Caroline Wales (14) of La Quinta will join more than 90 junior golfers (ages 14 – 17) from across the country at The First Tee®… Read more »
As I write this, the final bands at Coachella weekend 2 are playing in the background, and I am reminded that when this issue arrives, all the festivals will have moved out and another season will have come to an end. It’s time to “come home” to our inner sanctums, catch up on that much… Read more »
I am writing in my role as the new CEO of the Desert Healthcare District/Foundation. I am not brand new to the Desert (my husband I have had a weekend home here for two years), but I share an experience with the many residents with whom I have been fortunate to speak in the last… Read more »
In January, Health Assessment and Research for Communities (HARC) released its latest data on the health of the Coachella Valley. HARC has been tracking community health for the past ten years. This latest data marked their fourth survey and revealed an interesting picture of health in our region. Mental/Behavioral Health Local concern and attention on… Read more »
There is little doubt that abuse of opioids – often beginning with a necessary prescription – has reached crisis proportions in the U.S. and beyond. That includes right here in our backyards, in the Coachella Valley and the greater Inland Empire. Based on the most recent data available, as of 2014, there were 6.14 opioid… Read more »
A couple of years ago 28 students and staff at Coachella Valley High School were evaluated by emergency crews after reporting symptoms ranging from stomach aches and nausea to headaches and sore throats. The culprit was an organic herbicide used on nearby agricultural fields. We have been told over and over that organic is better… Read more »
How do we reverse the chronic disease epidemic plaguing our country? Indio High teacher, Jason Tate, says to start with the next generation. He knows the value first hand. Over the past ten years, he has been teaching the biology of nutrition and recently created a Health & Wellness Academy at Indio High where pre-med… Read more »
