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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 24, 2004

Contact:
David Littlefield, TCWF
(818) 702-1900

Sev Williams, i.e. communications, LLC
(415) 616-3930

HEALTH AND EDUCATION LEADERS RECEIVE TCWF’S CHAMPIONS OF HEALTH PROFESSIONS DIVERSITY AWARD

Linda Billey-Sevedge, Katherine A. Flores and Priscilla Gonzalez Are Awarded $25,000 Each for Their Leadership in Increasing Diversity in Health

San Francisco — The California Wellness Foundation (TCWF) will present its second annual Champions of Health Professions Diversity Award to three visionary leaders who have helped to increase diversity in the health workforce. The honorees are Linda Billey-Sevedge of Santa Maria, Katherine A. Flores of Fresno and Priscilla Gonzalez of Sacramento. Each will receive a $25,000 grant in recognition of her work and achievements at an awards ceremony in San Francisco on Tuesday, May 25, 2004.

Each of these awardees created opportunities for students from underrepresented communities to enter the health care workforce. Learning from individual struggles and experiences, each recipient started innovative programs that have increased diversity among those who provide health services. By changing the face of those providing health care in California, the well-being of underserved communities has improved through better access to care, increased cultural competency among providers, and higher levels of patient trust.

The state of California has no ethnic majority group. Although African-Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, and Asian and Pacific Islander groups make up more than 50 percent of the state’s population, these groups account for just 12 percent of nurses and 10 percent of physicians working in California. Troubling disparities exist in health outcomes among various racial and ethnic groups, and research indicates that a representative health workforce can help to close these gaps.

“Lack of diversity in California’s health care workforce represents a public health crisis,” said Gary L. Yates, TCWF president and CEO. “With alarming disparities in both health care access and health outcomes, which disproportionately affect communities of color, it is vitally important that we translate the lessons of these visionary leaders about how we can increase the diversity of the health workforce into policy at both statewide and local levels to improve health outcomes for underserved Californians.”

All three awardees have developed programs to help create a diverse, health care workforce in California. For the past 27 years, Billey-Sevedge coordinated the American Indian Outreach program at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), where she recruited Native Americans and other students of color to enter college and consider ways to give back to their communities. Flores serves as an inspirational leader working both as a practicing physician and educator and as a founder of an academy designed to mentor students from high school through medical school. Gonzalez, a registered practicing nurse for 15 years, moved from Pomona to Sacramento to join the California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD), where she worked tirelessly to increase diversity in the health care workforce and meet the need for providers in health-shortage areas.

Linda Billey-Sevedge
Billey-Sevedge recently retired from her faculty position at UCSB, where she nurtured hundreds of Native Americans and other students of color in their college endeavors and encouraged many to enter health careers. Her unwavering efforts as a recruiter and advocate led her to find many young people who might never have considered the option of college. She can now reflect with pride on the many success stories of students who not only graduated from college, but moved into professional schools and ultimately became physicians, public health professionals, physician assistants, speech therapists, health administrators, social workers and family counselors.

While at UCSB, Billey-Sevedge organized colleagues from other University of California campuses and helped create policy and program changes that resulted in improved recruitment and retention of minority students. She created a faculty-student mentoring system for Native American students at UCSB and organized cross-cultural training seminars for university staff to promote understanding of the variety of cultures on campus.

Billey-Sevedge’s sustained connection to community and grassroots organizations aids her work. She is a member of the Choctaw Nation and is active in tribal affairs and activities. She has established connections with Native American schools throughout the nation and served as a board member of Santa Barbara American Indian Health and Services. Billey-Sevedge currently serves as president of the California Indian Education Association, advisory board member of the California Indian Education Department, and advisory board member of Santa Barbara County’s after-school tutoring program.

“If American Indian communities want to get something going in their communities with health care, legal services and education, we must get our youth into college,” said Billey-Sevedge. “And then, we need people who will understand the students’ needs and how to be there for them.”

Katherine A. Flores, M.D.
Born to migrant farmworkers in the Central Valley and raised by her grandparents, Flores considers herself to be profoundly fortunate to have attended Stanford University, where she chose her medical career. Through her work as a practicing physician, medical educator and role model and mentor for high school and college students bound for health careers, Flores has dedicated herself to improving the quality of care in underserved communities and increasing the number of Latinos in health professions.

Flores established and managed the Sunnyside High School Doctor's and Junior Doctor's Academy and the University of California Latino Center for Medical Education and Research (LaCMER). For these and other programs, Flores recruited faculty and staff from diverse backgrounds. Flores also practices as a family physician within an all-woman, bilingual medical group in Fresno, which serves families from widely varying economic and ethnic backgrounds.

Flores serves a faculty member of the University of California San Francisco-Fresno (UCSF-Fresno) Medical Education Program and as project director for the California Health Education Training Center (HETC) and for LaCMER. Flores speaks frequently at events across the country, and says that she is continually reenergized by the needs of the Latino community and the dreams of students.

“The Doctor’s Academy introduces disadvantaged youth to health professions and provides them with the support they need to be academically competitive for college and health-professional-school entrance,” Flores said. “We remind the students that the Central Valley community needs their talents.”

Priscilla Gonzalez, R.N.
Gonzalez has devoted more than 40 years of professional service and personal effort to improving the health of underserved communities and furthering the diversity of California’s health professions. She began her health career as a psychiatric technician prior to working as a registered nurse for 15 years at Lanterman State Hospital. From 1980 to 2001, Gonzalez worked for OSHPD, during which time she served as the chief of the Health Professions Career Opportunity Program (HPCOP), interim executive officer of the Minority Health Professions Education Foundation, and deputy director of the Primary Care Resources and Community Development Division. In these positions, Gonzalez worked tirelessly for workforce diversity by strengthening programs and helping develop effective and sustainable training for Californians from diverse communities.

Throughout her career, Gonzalez has brought her expertise, passion and commitment to numerous commissions, boards and advisory committees. Her professional affiliations have included: the California Community Colleges, Statewide Health Occupations Advisory Committee; the California Department of Education, Health Careers Advisory Committee; the California Primary Care Consortium; the Flying Samaritans; and the U.S. Surgeon General’s Latino/Hispanic Health Planning Committee.

Gonzalez remains active in retirement. She currently serves as executive secretary of the California Institute for Nursing and Health Care, chair of the Health Education and Training Program, and board member of Welcome Back. Her innovative ideas, advocacy and unflagging efforts have contributed significantly to increased diversity in the health care workforce and to meeting the need for providers in health-shortage areas.

“Starting my career from an entry-level position has given me a greater understanding of the type of training that is needed for health care providers,” said Gonzalez. “We must be creative and look for innovative ways of recruiting capable and caring individuals into the health professions.”
In December 2000, the TCWF’s board of directors identified diversity in the health professions as one of eight priorities for its grantmaking. Grants are commonly given to organizations that provide pipeline programs, scholarships, mentoring programs, internships and fellowships that support and advance career opportunities for people of color in the health professions, including allied health and public health professions. Fostering and developing leadership is a theme across the Foundation’s grantmaking.

Billey-Sevedge, Flores and Gonzalez will be joined by TCWF directors and staff, as well as grantees, at the San Francisco ceremony on May 25. The ceremony precedes a daylong “Increasing Diversity in the Health Professions” conference on May 26.

“The accomplishments of these leaders demonstrate the range of strategies that can make a difference in bringing increased diversity to the health care professions,” said Saba Brelvi, TCWF program director. “Important investments can be made at the community level, in education systems, and in guiding policy development in Sacramento.”

The California Wellness Foundation is a private, independent foundation created in 1992, with the mission of improving the health of the people of California by making grants for health promotion, wellness education and disease prevention. The Foundation prioritizes eight issues for funding: diversity in the health professions, environmental health, healthy aging, mental health, teenage pregnancy prevention, violence prevention, women’s health, and work and health. It also responds to timely issues or special projects outside the funding priorities. Since its first year of operation, TCWF has awarded 3,512 grants totaling more than $432 million. It is one of the state’s largest private foundations, providing an average of $40 million in grants each year in pursuit of its mission.

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Note to reporters & editors: "The" in The California Wellness Foundation name is part of the Foundation's legal name. Please do not drop or lowercase the "T."