California Health Care Foundation

Based in Oakland, California, the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF) is an independent, nonprofit philanthropy that focuses on improving the health care system for the people of California, especially low-income Californians. The organization has three main goals: improving access to coverage and care, promoting high-value care, and investing in people, knowledge, and networks that help to make meaningful change possible in California’s health care system.
Established in 1996, CHCF operates with an endowment of more than $750 million in assets and has paid out more than $500 million to support its programmatic work.
Inception.
The California Health Care Foundation was one of two philanthropies created in 1996 as a result of Blue Cross of California’s conversion from a nonprofit health plan to a for-profit corporation, WellPoint (now Anthem). CHCF’s first responsibility was managing the sale of WellPoint Health Networks stock. Of the $3 billion yielded from this process, four-fifths of the proceeds went to create The California Endowment and the remainder, some $600 million at the time, stayed with CHCF. From its inception, CHCF has looked for opportunities to improve health care in California by supporting higher quality, greater efficiency, and broader access to care.
Leadership.
Dr. Sandra R. Hernández became president and CEO of the California Health Care Foundation in January 2014. Prior to joining CHCF, Hernández was CEO of The San Francisco Foundation, which she led for 16 years. She previously served as director of public health for the City and County of San Francisco.
Hernández is an assistant clinical professor at the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine. She practiced at San Francisco General Hospital in the AIDS clinic from 1984 to 2016. She was appointed by Governor Jerry Brown to the Covered California board of directors in February 2018. She is a graduate of Yale University and the Tufts University School of Medicine.
Previously, the foundation had been led for 18 years by founding president and CEO Mark D. Smith.
Resources.
CHCF provides information and resources on a wide range of issues that contribute to achieving a more efficient, effective, accessible, and high-quality health care system. Resources include:
Additionally, CHCF supports health journalism, helping to strengthen the capacity of nonprofits to cover health policy in California and nationally.
Publications.
CHCF commissions and publishes research on a wide variety of topics related to the financing and delivery of health care in California. The CHCF Blog draws on experts from inside and outside CHCF to share their health policy insights. A selection includes: