Community benefit program

Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula’s passion for caring for your community extends far beyond the walls of our hospital and clinics. From schools to the streets, we go where Monterey County residents need services, education, and resources to stay healthy. Each year, we invest millions of dollars and thousands of volunteer hours to improve our community’s well-being and support local organizations.

How our community benefits

You or someone you know may live a healthier life, thanks to our work in the community.

Improving access to care

Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula strives to improve the health of all people in Monterey County, including those with limited ability to pay. In 2023, we dedicated $189,646,211 (in funds and unreimbursed care expenses) to increase access to care, especially for people in need.

How we help

You or your neighbors may benefit from the ways we commit to making care accessible to everyone:

  • Financial assistance – Funding from donations and the hospital to help low-income, uninsured, or underinsured patients pay their bills
  • Since government health insurance programs (Medicare, Medi-Cal, and CHAMPUS) often don’t pay hospitals the actual costs for delivering care to their beneficiaries, we write off a portion of those bills.
  • Monterey County Health Department clinics – Financial support for clinics in Seaside and Marina that give high-quality care to county residents, regardless of their ability to pay
  • Transportation to medical appointments
    • Hospice transportation program, in which volunteers give rides to people with a life-threatening illness
    • Support for ITNMontereyCounty, which serves the transportation needs of seniors and people with vision difficulty

Providing health education and wellness resources

In 2023, Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula devoted $3,513,505 to educating the Monterey Peninsula community about healthy lifestyle choices. Discover opportunities for learning about self-care, early detection, and disease management.

Wellness activities

Take advantage of:

  • Cancer counseling – Guidance and education for patients and families dealing with cancer
  • Classes – Group sessions and lectures on a wide variety of health-related topics
  • Health blog – Stories and practical advice you can use to improve your quality of life
  • Grants – Funding for local groups that promote health awareness and education
  • Scholarships – Funding from the Auxiliary for college students studying to become healthcare professionals
  • Wellness screenings – Tests that check certain health measures and can help you detect an illness early, especially if you don’t have a primary care provider

Building healthy communities

Programs and initiatives

  • Free vaccination clinics for our community were the single best way for us to prevent severe illness and hospitalizations from COVID-19 in our community. We hosted 75 COVID-19 vaccination clinics for the community giving out more than 54,000 vaccines. Hospital staff and community members volunteered 13,073 hours towards the vaccination efforts
  • Automated external defibrillator (AED) program, which offers groups grants to buy the lifesaving heart devices and training to use them
  • Donations of unused medical supplies and office equipment to nonprofits
  • Emergency management preparation, coordination, and response
  • Grants to organizations that support the mission of Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula
  • Medical support for local events, such as the Big Sur Marathon Foundation events, First Tee and Pebble Beach Pro-Am, and the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach
  • Support groups that provide a free, encouraging, confidential environment for people with health issues
  • Telecare, daily wellness check-in phone calls from Auxiliary volunteers for seniors and homebound residents

Special care for special needs

Some of your neighbors in Monterey County face high barriers to health. That’s why Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula invested $458,130 in 2023 to help those at risk because of age, domestic violence, behavioral health issues, HIV, poverty, or other factors. Discover how we make it easier for everyone to get the care they need.

Services that make a difference

You or someone you care about may benefit from:

  • Bereavement program – One-on-one and group grief support to cope with a death
  • Food donations – Gifts of extra prepared foods from Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula to local nonprofits
  • Grants – Support for organizations that help people who have special needs
  • Recovery Center – Program to restore health, relationships, quality of life, and self-respect in adults affected by substance abuse
  • Substance Abuse Navigator - A program to provide those with substance abuse in the Emergency Department setting

Help for people experiencing homelessness

Medical care isn’t always top of mind for people who struggle each day to find a safe place to sleep and enough food to eat. Community Hospital brings providers to people who don’t have homes and works to reduce homelessness through several initiatives:

  • Multidisciplinary outreach team – A collaboration between Montage Health, Monterey Police Department, the district attorney’s office, Monterey County Behavioral Health, Adult Protective Services, YWCA, and others, to address social issues in a constructive way
  • Recurrent ER visitor program – Help for people to prevent and manage illnesses so they don’t need to come to the emergency room as often
  • Grant funding for Gathering for Women – a local organization that provides homeless women with supportive resources and a caring community

Dollars at work

In 2023, we provided $195.9 million to help the Monterey Peninsula community. To increase our impact, we partnered with 180 organizations [PDF] in community benefit activities.

Benefit Dollars

Benefit Services

Focus Area

Total

Percentage

Total

Percentage

Building healthy communities

$2,375,776

1.21%

12

15.3%

Health education and wellness

$3,513,505

1.79%

43

55.1%

Improving access to care

$189,646,211

96.7%

13

16.7%

Special care for special needs

$458,130

0.23%

10

12.8%

All benefit services

$195,993,622

100%

78

100%

Apply for a grant

See if your program may qualify for a grant from our Community Benefit Fund.

Read the plan

Download our full community benefit plan [PDF]. Contact us at (831) 625-4505 or commar@chomp.org for details about how we serve your community.