Food for People, Inc.

The Food Bank for Humboldt County

307 W. 14th St.
Eureka, CA 95501
(707)-445-3166
(707)-445-5946 fax
www.foodforpeople.org

April 6, 2015
The Honorable Rob Bonta
Chair, Assembly Health Committee
State Capitol, Room 6005
Sacramento, CA 95814
Dear Assembly Member Bonta:
On behalf of Food for People, I am writing to express our support for AB 1046. We believe this
bill strikes an important balance in the desire to create greater efficiency and transparency to
community benefit reporting for not-for-profit hospitals, while protecting the critical partnerships
between hospitals and local organizations that are helping provide necessary resources and
services to our most vulnerable populations.
As you know, Californias community benefit law has been in place and working since 1994 and
serves as a model for the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Under existing law, hospitals work
collaboratively with communities and stakeholders to assess local health needs and tailor
programs to address each communitys specific needs. Detailed reports are posted annually on
the Office of Statewide Health Planning (OSHPD) website.
AB 1046 further strengthens the collaboration within our communities, by streamlining the
reporting process and creating greater transparency by ensuring that reports are consistent and
easily comprehensible to the public. These process improvements will not only provide a better
understanding of the depth and breadth of community benefit investments, but also ensure that
hospital partnerships with community organizations are able to maximize scarce resources and
provide programs and services that meet the needs of each community.
Food for People has partnered closely with St. Joseph Health Humboldt County for more than
two decades to assess community needs and design community level responses that impact the
health status of the low income citizens of our county. Thanks to the community benefit support
provided, we have partnered with their Community Resource Centers as hosts for food pantries,
our Senior Brown Bag program and several child nutrition programs. They have also provided
funding to support the acquisition of produce that is provided at no cost to the 12,000 low
income children, families, seniors and people with disabilities we serve each month. We know
that access to fresh fruits and vegetables is critical to improving the health status of our low
income population and we appreciate their investment in the health of our community.

We believe that California community benefit organizations are an important part of Californias
health care safety net. Streamlining a redundant and bureaucratic process will allow a model
program to become even better by reducing administrative expenses and allowing savings to be
redirected to successful health care programs and services.
Today, California is working hard to implement the ACA and ensure greater access to care for
all Californians. AB 1046 is part of the collaborative effort between the state of California and
hospitals to lead and make that goal a reality.
We respectfully urge your support of AB 1046 to create greater transparency and efficiency to
the community benefit reporting process and protect vitally-needed community benefit services
provided by local organizations in collaboration with local hospitals.
Sincerely,
Anne Holcomb, Executive Director
Food for People