Santa Ana awards UCI $700,000 to address healthcare inequities among the vulnerable

UCI researchers from the Program in Public Health and the School of Medicine have received $700,000 from the city of Santa Ana to address inequities and gaps in health services and enhance COVID-19 mitigation efforts in vulnerable populations. Santa Ana and the surrounding area are home to almost 600,000 residents who live in the highest quartile of the Social Vulnerability Index, a measure of social and economic conditions such as crowding and poverty, which can amplify the health burdens of COVID-19. “The city of Santa Ana’s investment shows their continued commitment to better understanding barriers to care and implementing real-world strategies to improve the health and well-being of our county’s most vulnerable populations,” said co-principal investigator Sora Tanjasiri, professor of epidemiology. John Billimek, Ph.D., associate professor of family medicine, is co-principal investigator.