ValleyCare Charitable Foundation Continues its Mission Following Stanford Health Care-ValleyCare Affiliation

By Jay Hipps, Hacienda Network Staff Writer

Last year's new affiliation between Stanford Health Care and ValleyCare expanded the horizons for health care in the region. The new arrangement also brought about changes for the ValleyCare Charitable Foundation, although its mission is still the same.

"The charitable foundation is charged with being the community liaison between Stanford Health Care-ValleyCare as well as raising funds to support Stanford Health Care-ValleyCare," says Shake Sulikyan, the new executive director of the foundation. "We connect with our members, folks who were part of the original group that built the hospital and then supported the hospital and the health care system, as well as just provide the community engagement piece and raise dollars to support the needs of the hospital and our community."

The ValleyCare Charitable Foundation began life in 1982 as a department of the hospital, but its structure changed last year when ValleyCare joined forces with Stanford Health Care. "As part of that affiliation agreement, the charitable foundation became its own entity, a separate 501(c)(3) organization," says Sulikyan. "The affiliation was May of last year, so we're coming up to the one year anniversary."

Despite the new structure, the organization's goals largely remain the same. "Our goals are really to help support Scott (Gregerson, President, Stanford Health Care-ValleyCare) and his team and all the physicians and the nurses that are part of the Stanford Health Care-ValleyCare family and serve our community, whether it's through our community outreach efforts or through fundraising and providing financial support."

One way in which the foundation has helped meet the medical needs of patients is through its support of a special program for cancer patients.

"Women's health is an area that has great need, so we have supported the Breast Cancer Patient Navigator program, which is a registered nurse who works with women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer," says Sulikyan. "The navigator helps them navigate through their treatment and really understand the process. A navigator helps patients beyond what a physician does, guides them through the entire process of their cancer journey.

"We have been supporting the navigator program and are really looking to expand it to include other cancers as well," she adds. "Research has shown that the patients who have a navigator assisting them through their journey have a significantly higher recovery rate and better outcomes, so our hope is to expand the program so there are navigators available for people who have any sort of cancer. Lung cancer is one we're working on now and have provided some funds for that as well."

The ValleyCare Charitable Foundation also provides financial support for new equipment at the hospital.

"Another important thing we have supported this year and provided funding for is new monitors for our different units within the hospital," says Sulikyan. "It's important that we insure that our monitors are state-of-the-art and provide the latest technology that the physicians and the nurses need to make sure that our patients are taken care of in their hours of great need. That has been a big capital expenditure that we assisted with. We also purchased new beds for the emergency room, and they are equipped to handle people with disabilities as well. We're trying to anticipate the needs of the overall community and make sure that ValleyCare has all the equipment necessary."

For additional information on the ValleyCare Charitable Foundation, call (925) 373-4560 or access www.valleycare.com/foundation.aspx.

Photo: Shake Sulikyan, Executive Director

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