VCMRF's Key Funding Achievements
VCMRF History and Accomplishments
The Ventura County Medical Resource Foundation (VCMRF) would like to share information about our organization. While Ventura County Medical Center (VCMC) had other organizations supporting its mission before starting their own foundation, VCMRF was not inclusive to VCMC.
In 1956, the VCMRF was formed to fund physicians and hospital research projects. In the mid-nineties, Ventura County Medical Resource Foundation re-filed their Articles of Incorporation with the Attorney General. The Articles stated that the purpose of VCMRF was to “provide financial support for Ventura County Medical Center and to support and promote the mechanisms and non-profit institutions which provide medical services for the public benefit of the residents of Ventura County. This support and promotion shall be through all nature of fund-raising or any other available lawful and charitable means.” Today VCMRF’s Articles of Incorporation state that our purpose is to improve, in partnership with others, access to needed health care for vulnerable and underserved families of Ventura County.” VCMRF has always been a separate non-profit organization, not just for the benefit of the Ventura County Medical Center.
A few accomplishments of VCMRF: Funded through a grant, prostate cancer screenings at Dignity Health/St. John’s hospital in Oxnard in the nineties; Purchased equipment for Simi Valley Hospital; Provided 8 years of free administrative services to an organization funding equipment at VCMC; Negotiated naming opportunities to benefit VCMC and the benefactors; Provided a senior health care screening program with Ventura County Public Health; Funded the Summer Student Scholar Program; Partnered on a program with the behavioral health department, and provided funding through a grant to support equipment and staffing of a dental care program for incarcerated youth. Through its Boomerang Campaign – a program which provided county employees with a way to support health care programs that benefit families, friends and our neighbors – VCMRF funded the Dependency Drug Court Program for Ventura County Superior Court, contributed to AIDS services, supported a program that helped mothers with post-partum depression, and provided funding for prevention education programs and medical equipment.
VCMRF initiatives changed the way Latina women received health care screenings in Ventura County. VCMRF convened the Ventura County Cancer Task Force for over 8 years and paid for the Three-Year Breast and Cervical Cancer Strategic Plan utilized by over 30 cancer-related agencies. VCMRF provided health care screenings for agricultural workers – a partnership with the Santa Paula Hospital, before the County purchased the institution. VCMRF supported medical needs of Ventura County’s most underserved by purchasing critical equipment and assets, including equipment for the Mobile Mammography Unit. VCMRF submitted a grant that was funded to convene and staff the Chronic Disease Symposium – a partnership with local health care agencies. VCMRF administered, convened and marketed the Foster Health Link Program, before handing it over to the Human Services Agency to implement. Today, VCMRF provides donated (free) oral and vision care services to low-come children and youth; a program that was unduplicated when adopted 17 years ago, and funding survivorship wellness and end-of-life retreats for women undergoing cancer treatment from local hospitals at Kathy Hartley’s Lavender Inn.
VCMRF developed the First Annual Dr. Fainer awards in 1992, which recognized William J. James, MD who was Ventura County’s First Neurosurgeon. The second year, Dr. Leo Tauber was honored as the Ventura County Internist and in 2004, and Dr. Fred Gunn was honored as the Physician of the Year. The 31st Annual Fainer/Tauber, MD Awards luncheon was held on Sunday, June 9, 2024 at the stunning local, private Rancho Santa Clara del Norte (Lloyd-Butler Ranch).