HEALTH CARE CHAMPION AWARDS

Senator Boxer established this award to recognize individuals, organizations and healthcare providers that are working to make positive changes in healthcare.

2007

Pades Contra el Cáncer - Los Angeles, CA
Padres Contra El Cáncer is a non-profit organization committed to improving the quality of life for Latino children with cancer and their families. They bring together children, families, healthcare professionals and community leaders to promote a comprehensive understanding of childhood cancer and other blood disorders, as well as, effective methods for their treatment.

2006

The Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation (AARF)
AARF is a statewide non-profit 501 C 3 organization, with offices in Burbank, Fresno, and San Francisco, that works in partnership with firefighters, educators, and burn care professionals to develop innovative programs and services to help burn victims and their families.

Since its founding in 1971, the AARF has produced a variety of original prevention materials and programs that are distributed throughout the state and all over the world. Most of these materials are available at no charge and some items may be purchased at cost. The AARF has been able to provide valuable prevention and education presentations throughout the state and serve as a clearinghouse for information for firefighters who provide outreach and education to local communities.

In addition to prevention education, the AARF also provides survivor assistance programs that are designed to relieve emotional suffering and help enhance the self esteem and social skills of burn victims. For instance, the AARF runs a week-long residential summer camp for young burn victims so that they can interact with others who have endured similar experiences. The AARF gives out annual scholarships to burn survivors who pursue their education at the university, junior college, and trade school level.

In California alone, each year 10,000 people are burned severely enough to require medical attention; 4,500 are children. 2006 marks the 35th anniversary of the AARF’s presence as a source of valuable support and services for burn victims and their families.

The Painted Turtle - Los Angeles
The Painted Turtle is the sixth addition to Paul Newman's family of Hole in the Wall Camps for seriously ill children. It is also the only multi-disease camp and family care center of its kind on the West Coast. Through educational, therapeutic, safe, and just plain fun summer camp and year-round programs, The Painted Turtle provides a life-changing experience to children whose daily struggles often diminish both their desire to be well and their ability to lead a rich, productive life.

The Painted Turtle offers an exhilarating, challenging, and nurturing array of traditional summer camp recreational activities, seamlessly intertwined with programs that inspire children to become more self-confident and self-reliant, as well as more cooperative with their medical caregivers. There is a strong healing potential in the lessons children learn and the friendships they form at The Painted Turtle.

Oakland Children's Hospital
On Saturday, August 5th, Senator Barbara Boxer and Congresswoman Barbara Lee toured Children's Hospital and Research Center Oakland. After the tour, Senator Boxer spoke to the Children's community at a reception and presented Children's with her Health Care Champion Award for their commitment to high quality patient care and innovative research. Children's is the San Francisco Bay Area's only independent free standing children's hospital and is the busiest pediatric trauma center between Los Angeles and Seattle. Children's is dedicated to helping all children regardless of their ability to pay.

Maitri
For the past 19 years, Maitri has offered compassionate care and services to patients and their families severely debilitated by AIDS. Maitri and its staff provide care that addresses each patient’s physical and emotional needs in a way that affirms their life and respects and honors the final stages of life. Maitri has never stepped away from this responsibility, even during times when AIDS patients were stigmatized and shut out from services. To this day, Maitri continues to be the only AIDS-specific residential care facility in the Bay Area.

Northern California Institute for Research and Education
NCIRE's mission is to improve the health and well-being of veterans and the general public by supporting a world-class biomedical research program conducted by the UCSF faculty at the San Francisco VA Medical Center (SFVAMC). In July 2006, Senator Boxer presented NCIRE with her Health Care Champion Award, for its innovative work in facilitating neurological research, including groundbreaking research on post-tramautic stress disorder, at SFVAMC.

View all the photos from this event.

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Pediatric Therapy Network (PTN) - Torrance, CA
Pediatric Therapy Network (PTN) is a non-profit children's therapy center, founded in 1996 by a group of therapists, parents and other professionals dedicated to providing quality services for children with special needs.  Based in Torrance, CA, PTN is committed to professional excellence within a family-centered, collaborative atmosphere built on a foundation of dignity, respect and integrity.

PTN's state-of-the-art therapy clinic in Old Torrance has grown from about 5,000 square feet when it first opened to more than 25,000 square feet today.  In addition, PTN also provides programs and conducts research at the site of Dr. Jean Ayres' original therapy clinic, just a few blocks from away.  PTN therapists also provide therapy services at more than 200 schools, as well as at children's homes and at many sites in the community.  Pediatric Therapy Network currently provides more than 100,000 hours of intervention each year to more than 1000 children and their families.

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2005

The Minority AIDS Project (M.A.P.)
The Minority AIDS Project (M.A.P.) has contributed 20 years of beneficial public service since its inception as the first community-based HIV/AIDS organization operated by and for people of color. Founded by Archbishop Carl Bean in 1985, M.A.P. has approached delicate issues surrounding HIV/AIDS and stimulated discussion where it needed to take place. M.A.P helps people living with HIV/AIDS to find housing and home nursing care and delivers mental health services, among other things. M.A.P is probably best known for its ability to reach out to black and Latino men who are increasingly become afflicted with HIV and AIDS yet not responding to traditional prevention messages through health care and accurate educational services that were not accessible within the Latino and African American communities before. In its twenty years of service, M.A.P.’s client load has grown from 15 in 1985 to over 1,200 cases today.

Boxer Field Representative Vincent Jones (R) presents Health Care Champion Award to Minority AIDS Project Executive Director Victor Mckamie on World AIDS Day in Los Angeles City Hall.

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Guillerma Vicuna, Su Salud
U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) awarded her Health Care Champion Award to Dr. Guillermo Vicuna, the Stockton dentist who dedicated his career to serving the health care needs of the region’s uninsured families.

Senator Boxer said, “I am happy to have presented my Health Care Champion Award to Dr. Guillermo Vicuna, a man who has spent the past two decades working to improve the health of people who have no where else to turn.”

Dr. Vicuna said, “I greatly appreciate Senator Boxer’s recognition of Su Salud. It is important that we continue to improve the overall health of the uninsured working poor.”

Dr. Vicuna and a small group of health providers created the health fair program to address the most pressing needs of the poor and underserved who live in the rural counties of the Central Valley. Participants at Su Salud, Spanish for “your health,” health fairs received a myriad of free health screenings.

During its 10 years of operation from 1987 until 1997, the Su Salud Health and Education Fair became the largest health education fair in the United States, and represented the only source of health care for many farm worker families with no medical insurance.

Recently, Dr. Vicuna established “The Tour of Life Research Study for Migrant Women” designed to educate migrant women and their children on good health practices while, at the same time, conducting a two-year research study on the effects of that education. The project involves 350 people living in the farm-labor camps in Lodi and French Camp operated by San Joaquin County.

Boxer said, “By providing health education and research on its effects, we will be able to make better decisions in the future about appropriate programs.”

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Hospice of Marin County
On Saturday, November 5, U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer awarded her Health Care Champion Award to the Hospice of Marin for its work providing end of life care to patients in Marin, Sonoma and San Francisco Counties. Senator Boxer’s Field Representative, Michele Moss, presented the award.

Founded 30 years ago, the Hospice of Marin has been a leader in providing care to those nearing the end of life and support for their families. It has also been a leader in training hospice organizations around the nation in providing care. It currently serves more than 200 patients and their families.

“I have watched the fine work of Marin Hospice for many years and am happy to give it my Health Care Champion Award,” said Senator Boxer. “By providing excellent care and compassionate counseling, Marin Hospice respects and honors each person's wishes in the final stages of their life and helps their family at this difficult time,” Boxer said.

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2004

T.H.E. Clinic, Inc.
Since 1974, T.H.E. Clinic has provided primary medical care services to underserved and low income people in Los Angeles County. Their services cover pediatrics, diagnosis and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, blood pressure monitoring, cancer screening, and education on chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and asthma. Their campaign to expand into a new, state-of-the-art medical facility in Southwest Los Angeles has gained the support of state and local officials, and local community and church leaders. (Boxer Field Representative Hattie Stewart is pictured on the left with the Clinic's Medical Director Dr. David Martin, and its former director Sylvia Ivie Drew.)

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Valley Community Clinic
For more than 30 years, Valley Community Clinic, a private, non-profit agency, has been the "family doctor" for the hard working, low-income, uninsured people of the San Fernando Valley. Founded in 1970 as a counseling center, the Clinic soon expanded to include a full range of free and low-cost, high quality medical and health services. Valley Community Clinic has its own lab and dispensary, so prescribed medications, as well as fees for services, are based on the patients' income. (Boxer Field Representative Johanna Williams is pictured on the left presenting the award to Clinic Board Chair Linda Mazur and Clinic CEO Ann Britt.)

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