Doctors and nurses request resources from the Greatest Needs Fund when their patients are ready to move forward with healing, but don’t have the basic resources to make a successful transition. Donors contribute to basic necessities such as medications, transportation, shelter and other resources they need to transition back to independence. These one-​time gifts to patients in need help them leave the hospital and move forward with their lives.

Through the Patient Greatest Needs Fund, donors, including the employees of Monterey County, give tens of thousands of dollars every year to make sure good care turns into good outcomes for patients, families and the community. Over the past sixyears, the Foundation has provided more than $415,000 to Natividad’s patients — and transformed the lives of many patients as a result.

Dave, a Monterey County resident, visited the Medical Center hundreds of times over the course of several years. He was homeless for five of those years. Dave was admitted to the emergency room, ICU and mental health unit repeatedly. Chris Oaks, a social worker at the Medical Center, visited him on each of his stays. Chris finally broke through to Dave on one of Dave’s last stays by using the Patient Greatest Needs Fund to break the cycle of homelessness and injury with rehabilitation, basic shelter, transportation and food. It transformed his life. Dave is now fully recovered and living a productive life. He still visits the Medical Center—not as a patient, but as a friend of Natividad.

You can contribute to the Patient Greatest Needs Fund to help patients move from hospital care to healing at home.