The Community Relations Department focuses on public service, which is one of the four interwoven missions of the UC Davis Health System, by providing leadership and promoting collaborative relationships with the public and private sector to build a healthier community and region. This is accomplished by several outreach efforts including: (1) conducting wellness programs, health education classes and preventative screenings, (2) establishing partnerships with community-based organizations by providing training and development opportunities, (3) supporting small and women-owned businesses through economic development, (4) building positive relationships with the surrounding neighborhoods, and (5) coordinating special events that enhance the image of UC Davis Health System. As the health system's liaison for community outreach, service is provided to over a million residents in the health system's geographic area.

In addition to supporting outreach efforts, the Community Relations Department works with local elected government representatives, coordinates the tours program and speakers bureau and maintains the health system's Master Calendar of Events.

A key component of Community Relations' outreach success is the Staff Offering Services (SOS) Program which utilizes employees volunteering their time to promote the UC Davis Health System at various community events. By participating in events with volunteers from the SOS Program, UC Davis Health System makes contact with more than ten percent of the service area, offering cholesterol and blood pressure testing, breast and prostate cancer awareness, diabetes prevention information, nutritional counseling, first aid, direction and registration booth staffing and the general promotion of community goodwill by medical center volunteers who serve as ambassadors throughout the service area. Click here to sign up.

Good relations with the medical center's neighbors continues to be promoted through ongoing quarterly meetings with the Neighborhood Task Force which includes the four neighborhood associations adjacent to the medical center: Elmhurst, MED Center, Oak Park and Tahoe Park. Members of these associations include neighbors, property owners and merchants from the Stockton Boulevard/Broadway corridors. The medical center strives to reach a good balance between the growth of the hospital campus and our neighbor's concerns on traffic, parking, expansion and safety, to name a few. UC Davis Health System proudly continues to support the Neighborhood Police Officers Program which assists in the protection of these neighborhoods.

UC Davis Health System also receives community recognitions on a frequent basis for community support that also benefits the medical center. Plaques and certificates received this year include the Oak Park Community District; Another Choice, Another Chance; California State University Sacramento-Cooperative Education program; In-Mien American National Coalition; U.S. Olympic 2000 Track and Fields Trials; American Lung Association Emigrant Trails Bike Trek; and Sacramento High School for Partnership and Outreach.

UC Davis Health System's Community Advisory Board, which consists of 25 members, advises hospital administration on patient and community health concerns, long-range development plans and overall community outreach. The Community Advisory Board provides an important link to ethnically, culturally and economically diverse communities in the region.

Community Relations oversees several other departments, Medical Interpreting Services, Special Events, and Volunteer Services (which itself is responsible for Clinical Pastoral Services, Lifeline and the Gift Shop and is liaison to the Kiwanis Family House).

For more information please contact Community Relations at (916) 734-5441 or community.relations@ucdmc.ucdavis.edu.