Wells Fargo accelerates innovative effort to bring doctors to South LA

Grant represents the largest corporate gift yet for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Hospital.

Willowbrook, Calif. Nov. 9 – Joining transformational donors including Ballmer Group and The Weingart Foundation, Wells Fargo announced its commitment to solving South Los Angeles’ medical provider shortage with a $1 million gift to Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Hospital (MLKCH).

The grant will support MLKCH’s collaboration with its affiliated nonprofit MLK Community Medical Group (MLK CMG) which is taking aim at the medical provider shortage in South Los Angeles—an area of Los Angeles that is home to approximately 1.3 million residents and an estimated shortage of about 1,200 physicians.

MLK CMG, a multi-specialty medical group, is one of the few providers of high-quality outpatient healthcare in South LA, particularly for adults with complex chronic conditions. Through the combined efforts of MLKCH and MLK CMG, both organizations have successfully recruited more medical specialists and primary care providers. As a result, South LA’s critical physician gap has begun to close.

This is the largest corporate gift yet received by the hospital’s foundation.

“This incredibly generous gift is a recognition of our hospital’s ability to deliver quality care,” said Dr. Elaine Batchlor, CEO of the hospital. “The people of South LA have gone without the help that they need for too long. It’s time to do something about it.”

Wells Fargo joins a growing list of organizations committed to solving South LA’s medical provider shortage. In addition to Ballmer Group and The Weingart Foundation, the Good Hope Medical Foundation has also supported MLKCH and MLK CMG’s efforts to alleviate the area’s medical provider shortage.

“Good health is the foundation of everything, including achieving financial success, which is one of Wells Fargo’s core values,” said Michael Ormonde, Los Angeles region bank president. “With this gift, we hope to provide more Angelenos with high-quality healthcare and the benefits that it bestows on every other aspect of their lives.”

Wells Fargo is one of the nation’s top corporate cash donors among US companies, and recently reaffirmed its goal of a 40 percent increase in corporate philanthropy in 2018, targeting $400 million.

The grant will help MLKCH support the payment of competitive market salaries to talented, culturally competent physicians to encourage them to work in an area with a high percentage of Medicaid patients. California has one of the lowest reimbursement rates to doctors that serve Medicaid patients, a nearly insurmountable obstacle for physicians looking to either establish or maintain a practice.

“This gift will help us level the playing field and bring in doctors and quality care equal to that found in more affluent communities,” said Dr. Batchlor. “Thanks to supporters like Wells Fargo, there is real momentum growing around MLKCH’s ability to rewrite the rules of how care is provided in disadvantaged communities.”

About Martin Luther King, Jr.  Community Hospital

Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Hospital (MLKCH) is a private, nonprofit, safety-net hospital serving 1.3 million residents in South Los Angeles. Our new hospital opened in 2015 through a unique public/private partnership with the County of Los Angeles, the University of California, and other healthcare providers. MLKCH is committed to establishing an innovative model focused on patient-centered, coordinated care delivery, both inside and beyond the hospital walls. Learn more: www.mlkch.org

About Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a diversified, community-based financial services company with $1.9 trillion in assets. Wells Fargo’s vision is to satisfy our customers’ financial needs and help them succeed financially. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking, investment and mortgage products and services, as well as consumer and commercial finance, through 7,950 locations, 13,000 ATMs, the internet (wellsfargo.com) and mobile banking, and has offices in 37 countries and territories to support customers who conduct business in the global economy. With approximately 262,000 team members, Wells Fargo serves one in three households in the United States. Wells Fargo & Company was ranked No. 26 on Fortune’s 2018 rankings of America’s largest corporations. News, insights and perspectives from Wells Fargo are also available at Wells FargoStories.

Media inquiries: Gwen Driscoll, 310-720-4441