News Release

Molina Healthcare of California has been awarded a grant from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) as part of RWJF's Hablamos Juntos program. “Hablamos Juntos” translates from Spanish to English as “We Speak Together.” The purpose of the grant is to improve healthcare access for Latinos through innovative approaches.

Molina Healthcare was one of 10 grantees selected nationally. The grant is for $150,000 to be used over the next year to design innovative models to improve patient-practitioner communication, including language interpretation services, printed materials, and signage. Upon successful completion of the planning phase, each grantee will be eligible for a two-year grant of up to $850,000 to implement the proposed model. The grant period commenced on October 1, 2002.

The grant's application process, which began in January 2002, was highly competitive. This year's grantees were selected out of an original pool of nearly 180 applicants. Of those, 23 entities were invited to submit full proposals and 10 (including Molina Healthcare) were awarded grants through the Hablamos Juntos Program administered by the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute located at Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, California. Using rigorous criteria to select the Hablamos Juntos demonstration sites, applicants that demonstrated a commitment to serving Spanish-speaking populations were identified.

Martha Bernadett, MD, MBA, is serving as the Principal Investigator. According to Dr. Bernadett, “Latinos are the fastest growing population in California. Our patients tell us that language barriers present problems. We are responding by demonstrating how a health plan can remove those barriers by applying innovative approaches and consulting closely with community leaders.”

“Molina Healthcare has been serving Latino communities since 1980 and has a long track record of reaching out to meet the needs of community members,” adds Margie Akin, Ph.D, Cultural Anthropologist who leads Molina Healthcare's Community Advisory Committee.

Molina Healthcare of California is an affiliate of Molina Healthcare, Inc. Molina Healthcare, Inc., headquartered in Long Beach, California, is among the most experienced managed health care companies serving individuals covered under Medicaid, the Healthy Families Program, the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) and other government-sponsored health programs. Molina Healthcare also has health plans in Washington, Utah and Michigan.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, based in Princeton, NJ, is the nation's largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to health and health care. It concentrates its grantmaking in four goal areas: to assure that all Americans have access to basic health care at reasonable cost; to improve care and support for people with chronic health conditions; to promote healthy communities and lifestyles; and to reduce the personal, social and economic harm caused by substance abuse—tobacco, alcohol and illicit drugs.