In May, El Camino Hospital Foundation launched a mini campaign that raised $150,000 for the renovation and expansion of the RotaCare Clinic, which provides free health services to the working poor and uninsured in our community. The clinic is located in the basement of the Park Pavilion in space previously occupied by the South Asian Heart Center. The expansion was necessary due to increasing demand for free medical services and the adoption of more stringent patient privacy requirements, known as HIPAA. The new layout accommodates more patients by moving staff work stations away from clinical areas, reconfiguring the waiting area, and designating specific space to the immunization program. Thanks to the renovation, the clinic now has eight additional work stations to accommodate its growing roster of volunteers. The remodel also created seven individual patient exam rooms (up from four multi-use rooms) so that more patients can be treated at one time and all with greater privacy.

RotaCare, which was founded in 1996, handled 16,640 patient visits in fiscal year 2010/2011, up 30% from the previous year, and experienced an astounding 111% increase in new patients. Staffed by nearly 300 volunteers, including 110 physicians, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners, it is supported entirely by the generous philanthropy of the community and does not receive any funding from the government or through reimbursements.

Two other important programs also recently benefited from donations to El Camino Hospital Foundation. In October, the Foundation allocated just under $200,000 to the Palliative Care service to fund a specially trained nurse and social worker. The focus of the palliative care team is to ease patients’ pain and suffering and help patients near the end of life. The program has grown and been sustained thanks to the generosity of Pamela and Ed Taft. The Foundation also allocated $52,000 to bring art therapy to patients at El Camino Hospital Los Gatos through the Healing Arts Program.