Jonathan Goldfinger

What will it take to align cost, equity and outcomes across California’s health care system? An initial set of sessions for Catalyst for Health 2026 is now available. The agenda includes sessions focused on: • Aligning cost and outcomes across health care systems • Strengthening primary care through value-based payment approaches • Advancing maternal and behavioral health integration • Building sustainable workforce and community-based care models Registration is now open. Additional information, including speaker details, will be announced soon. 🔗 Full agenda and registration link in the comments. #CatalystForHealth #HealthcareInnovation

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Yesterday, Health Care Foundation for Ventura County (HCFVC) was named an awardee of Action for Women’s Health, a $250 million global open call funded by Pivotal, launched in 2024 to support organizations working to improve women’s mental and physical health around the world. Founded by Melinda French Gates in 2015, Pivotal Ventures works to advance social progress and expand women's power and influence in the U.S. and around the world. HCFVC received between $1 million and $5 million in funding in support of Ventura County Medical Center and Ventura County Health Care Agency. HCFVC is honored to be selected to help steward this impactful funding to Ventura County’s safety-net health and hospital system.

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Expanding access to behavioral health services requires innovative partnerships and culturally tailored approaches. In a recent podcast episode, Luis Emilio Suarez, Founder & CEO of Sanarai, and Stella Tran, Senior Program Invesment Officer at California Health Care Foundation, discussed the importance of building trust and cultural competence in this area. Luis's organization focuses on providing culturally relevant mental health services for Spanish-speaking communities, while Stella's foundation uses innovation to improve care quality and access for low-income populations. Tune in to learn how these strategies are transforming behavioral health access for underserved communities! Tune in below to listen to their full #ExpandingAccess podcast episode! #Medicaid #BehavioralHealth Behavioral Health Tech

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"We'll go back to the future." That's how CHCF CEO Sandra Hernández describes California's path forward in healthcare. And after facilitating CalAIM implementation across six California counties this year, I think she's exactly right. Her new piece in CHCF this week lays out a clear-eyed assessment of where we are: •       H.R. 1 transformed the federal-state relationship from "partnership" to "punitive" •       California faces ~$28 billion in federal funding cuts over the next decade •       The number of uninsured Californians will rise after years of progress •       25% of every healthcare dollar is still wasted on administrative complexity But here's what struck me most: her strategy isn't despair. It's adaptation. "Back to the future" means returning to what worked before the ACA—focusing on access to care rather than formal coverage—but with tools we didn't have then: telehealth, AI, community health workers, and the hard lessons from COVID about meeting people where they are. We see this playing out in real time in our PATH CPI sessions with the Camden Coalition. In Yolo County, we're watching a small team navigate both federal uncertainty AND the daily challenge of connecting people experiencing homelessness to Enhanced Care Management. In Monterey and San Benito, providers are figuring out how to make Community Supports work in agricultural communities where "access" means something different than it does in Sacramento. These aren't policy abstractions. They're people solving problems in real time, under real constraints. Two other things Hernández said that deserve more attention: On AI: "AI holds tremendous potential to help eliminate disparities. Without leadership to drive how and where it gets deployed, it could also exacerbate them." This is the question I keep asking health tech founders: Are you building for the safety net, or just hoping it'll trickle down? The difference matters. On trust: "Trustworthy relationships require intentionality, listening, humility, time, and attention. Those things are lacking in virtually every health care setting." She's right. Technology enables. But relationships transform. The next 18 months will test whether California can do what Hernández describes: use our state's unparalleled innovative capabilities to make healthcare work better for everybody—not just those who can pay. I'm an extreme possibilist about this. Not because the challenges aren't real—they are. But because I've watched county teams, CBOs, and managed care plans find ways forward when the policy environment said there wasn't one. That's what "back to the future" actually looks like on the ground. Read Dr. Hernández's full piece—it's the clearest strategic overview of California healthcare I've seen this year. #CalAIM #MediCal #HealthcarePolicy #California #HealthEquity #SafetyNet #HealthcareInnovation

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Inspired by how CAPH/SNI's public health care system member, Alameda Health System is uplifting patient and community voices and experiences to share decision-making power to embed equity in quality improvement efforts. Read practice advice from the team in the featured article and video here: https://bit.ly/4s2ZmCu

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ICYMI: “Displacement costs more than a lot of other strategies,” says BHHI Senior Advisor Marc Dones, adding that converting those funds into things like short-term rental assistance would help far more people. Learn how communities can connect people living unsheltered to stable housing instead of relying on costly displacement: https://lnkd.in/gn4eUwte. https://lnkd.in/gensyc_j California Health Care Foundation

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Trusted Relationships Are Essential for Californians with Multiple Health and Social Needs: A conversation with Shakari Byerly about the intersection between social needs and health outcomes Thank you, Melora Simon and @californiahealthcarefoundation for this insightful interview about the challenges Californians face in accessing healthcare. "It starts with asking the person about what’s important to them," says EVITARUS Managing Partner Shakari Byerly, Ph.D. -People are frustrated that they often have to reach crisis levels before qualifying for help, particularly in the behavioral health system -Dental needs are connected to maintaining health. Seniors talked about long wait times and how the default treatment is extracting teeth rather than repairing them. Living with missing teeth makes it harder to eat healthy food or to find a job.  -What really came through was how interconnected everything is. Someone might have critical health care needs, but if they don’t have housing, healing becomes nearly impossible.  -People want robust preventive services with flexible eligibility requirements. They may not be dealing with a serious mental illness...need counseling and therapy...not just crisis intervention. ⚕️ #HEALTHCAREACCESS https://lnkd.in/gkSrwMgr

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✨ “Working with this team of Black creatives, patients, community members, and Alameda Health System staff, we created a campaign by, for, and about Black folks,” said Denise Jenkins, community member and Black Patient Care Initiative participant. Our new feature shares how Alameda Health System brought these patients and community members in as co-designers from the start and shared decision-making power with them. This uncommon level of power-sharing shaped the “Getting Screened for Life” campaign. In this feature (with a short video), you’ll find: • How AHS is changing structures to embed equity across #QualityImprovement • First-hand perspectives and the frameworks that guided the work • Practical advice that other organizations can use Read the feature + watch the video: https://bit.ly/4s2ZmCu A deep thanks to the patients, community members, AHS providers and staff for collaborating with us on this feature, including U. Mini B. Swift, Angela Ng, MD; Noel Belton; Natalie Curtis, MD; Bryan Miguel Toral, MHA; Eleanor Ajala. Further thanks to Katherine Haynes and the California Health Care Foundation for their much-appreciated support. #PatientPartnership #PatientExperience #CoDesign #HealthEquity #BlackHealth #CommunityEngagement #QualityImprovement #CancerScreening #CHCFNews

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🌟 In this edition of THE CHCF WEEKLY: CHCF's Diana Camacho spotlights something that could reshape health care for nearly 40% of Californians. CHCF just released the California Latino Health Almanac, a resource created in partnership with three organizations within UCSF Phillip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies (IHPS), and Healthforce Center at UCSF. The Almanac is a guide to the pressing health challenges facing Latino/x communities statewide. What makes this special? An interactive dashboard breaks down health data by county, providing the evidence policymakers and providers need to create real change. When we improve Latino/x health outcomes, we strengthen California's entire health care system. Also in this week's CHCF Weekly: 📋 How other states are solving shortages of primary care providers (spoiler: California could learn a lot) 🏠 A useful case study on using Medicaid dollars to tackle homelessness 🎯 Two upcoming webinars on CalAIM renewal and innovative funding strategies Better health care is something we can build together, one community at a time. Read the full CHCF Weekly: https://lnkd.in/gh6N8iwu

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