Stanford Medicine Invests More than $1 Billion in Local Communities

April 1, 2024

STANFORD, Calif. – For its 2023 fiscal year, Stanford Medicine invested more than $1 billion to the local community, supporting a range of services from food donations to free training for medical professionals.

“Our community partners provide vital resources in support of the well-being of our most vulnerable neighbors,” said David Entwistle, president and CEO of Stanford Health Care. “We are proud to work closely with them in service of our surrounding communities, always striving to address social, economic and health care gaps to build a healthier future together.”

“A part of the mission of Stanford Medicine Children’s Health is to extend care, hope and support to our entire community,” said Paul King, president and CEO of Stanford Medicine Children’s Health.

From Sept. 1, 2022, to Aug. 31, 2023, Stanford Health Care, Stanford Medicine Children’s Health and Stanford Health Care Tri-Valley gave $1.07 billion in donations, funding services and programs to provide health education classes, home health services for seniors, supportive care for cancer patients such as free exercise classes, and research into improved care and better health outcomes, among other activities.

“At Stanford Health Care Tri-Valley, we are deeply invested in enhancing health outcomes within our community,” said Rick Shumway, president and CEO of Stanford Health Care Tri-Valley. “We aim to reduce health disparities and create a landscape where each individual, regardless of socio-economic background, has access to equitable health care.”

Community investments

Stanford Medicine partners, collaborates and advocates to improve access to care, create positive change, strengthen the workforce and provide health and safety education. For instance, Stanford Children’s Health provides hundreds of wellness and preventive care classes each year for all ages and stages of pregnancy, childbirth, childhood and teenage life. The free community lectures from clinical experts help families stay updated on how to keep their children safe and healthy.

In an effort to address growing community need and priority, Stanford Medicine invested in robust programs aimed at reducing food insecurity, which contributes to poor health outcomes, through support of food banks, food drives, community gardens and farmers markets.

Stanford Health Care and Stanford Medicine Children’s Health partnered with, Second Harvest of Silicon Valley, an organization that helps local residents eat a more healthful diet.

“When people think of food banks, they think of peanut butter and canned green beans, but that’s not what people receive when they come to our food distribution sites,” said Tracy Weatherby, vice president of strategy and advocacy at Second Harvest. “Almost 60% of our provisions are fresh produce.” The group models its food distribution after farmers markets, letting people choose the produce that meets their cultural needs and family preferences.

With the grants funded by Stanford Medicine, Second Harvest was able to provide enough food over one million nutritious meals in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties last year.

“People referred to our programs by their doctor are less worried about the stigma of receiving free food; they’re more likely to follow up on appointments and eat nutritious food, which helps lead to better health outcomes,” Weatherby said. “We’re grateful to have a partner like Stanford Medicine that is as focused as we are on lifting up the entire community.”

Stanford Health Care gave $360,000 to distribute more than 573,000 pounds of healthy proteins serving to more than 30,000 people per month. Stanford Medicine Children’s Health also invested $250,000 to provide a grocery program, fresh produce, school meals and education to more than 130,000 individuals.

Stanford Health Care Tri-Valley provided funding towards investments in infrastructure, equipment and supplies for the Open Heart Food Bank warehouse to open food bank operations. The nonprofit will enhance efficient and consistent food distribution in the Dublin-Livermore-Pleasanton area. The food bank expects to serve an average of 1,900 unique households weekly, including the distribution of culturally relevant food to individuals who can’t afford or access healthy foods.

Stanford Medicine invested $75,000 in Fresh Approach, a nonprofit that collaborates with local farmers to provide produce, nutrition education and gardening skills to Bay Area communities. Fresh Approach served more than 13,000 individuals. The Stanford Medicine Children’s Health Family Food Support Program teamed up with Fresh Approach to bring a mobile farmer’s market to a clinic parking lot once a week. The program in collaboration with nursing, social work and a steering committee utilizes effective screening tools to identify patients who are food insecure and provides them with a voucher to access nutrient-rich fresh fruits and vegetables through the onsite Fresh Approach mobile farmer’s market.

Stanford Health Care supported the Samaritan House Food Pharmacy, which provided assistance to 743 patients, many uninsured with Type 2 diabetes, and the Meals on Wheels program, which delivered daily meals to 1,403 clients and wellness checks for isolated and disabled older adults.

Financial assistance and charity care

Stanford Medicine also invested more than $741 million to cover the uncompensated costs of medical services for patients enrolled in Medi-Cal, out-of-state Medicaid and other government programs. In additional, the organization provided more than $16 million in charity care.

Training for future health care providers

A significant portion of Stanford Medicine investments supported training for resident physicians, fellows and medical student education costs, as well as nurse and allied health professionals training, with more than $195 million. This included support for students training for careers in chaplaincy or other pastoral and spiritual care services.

In addition, Stanford Medicine works with the Cristo Rey San Jose Work Study Program to provide health care workforce development training to high school students.

Forensic exams for sexual assault victims

In partnership with the Santa Clara County Health System, Stanford Health Care opened the Sexual Assault Forensic Exam (SAFE) program within the emergency department at Stanford Hospital to provide compassionate care for survivors of sexual assault and intimate partner violence. This is a unique partnership with county and Stanford Medicine staff to ensure timely quality care for vulnerable patients. Stanford Medicine invested nearly $1.4 million in the program.

Other highlights:

• Through collaboration with the Pediatric Trauma Program, Stanford Children’s Injury Prevention Program worked with a community benefit partner, Roots, for an annual back-to-school event distributing backpacks and car seats to the communities they serve. They also provided booster vaccination and health checks to give students a healthy start to a new year. Stanford Health care also partnered with Roots, helping to link more than 600 patients with affordable internet and devices for telehealth.
• Stanford Medicine invested in supportive programming at LifeMoves which served 5,100 people, providing interim housing and resources for those experiencing homelessness.
• Stanford Health Care Tri-Valley funded the salary of a case manager who provided services to residents of Goodness Village — a community of homes that are less than 500 square feet for people transitioning out of chronic homelessness.
• Stanford Health Care’s Online Second Opinion program contributed nearly $1 million to review diagnoses, treatments and care plans for the community so that people could receive a low-cost second opinion.

View the annual reports:

• Stanford Health Care
• Stanford Medicine Children’s Health
• Stanford Health Care Tri-Valley

Media contact

Emily Moskal
(650) 723-0711
emoskal@stanford.edu