History of the Office of Women's Health

In addition to the special activities listed, the OWH oversees the Breast Health Steering Committee and subcommittees, monitors the Breast Cancer Early Detection Program and conducts provider training for the new state Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment Program. Since being under the auspices of the OWH, revenue from these programs has substantially increased.  Also, the OWH facilitated the first group purchasing of new mammography equipment for DHS facilities.  

The OWH also provides women’s health publications to Department of Health Services’ facilities for distribution to the community, and outreach to the community through weekly health fairs, partnering with clinical providers for mobile screenings for breast and cervical cancer, and maintaining a community calendar of events on the OWH website.

      May 1997 - The first Los Angeles County Women’s Health Policy Summit was convened by the L.A. County Commission for Women under the direction of Kathleen A. Torres, M.P.H., President. Supervisors Yvonne Brathwaite Burke and Gloria Molina served as Honorary Co-Chairs. The purpose of the Summit was to begin a dialogue among health care stakeholders and elected officials on the status and future of women’s health in the County. The Summit developed 101 policy and program recommendations including a recommendation for the establishment of an Office of Women’s Health to serve as the focal point for strategic planning to make County programs and policies more responsive to women.

      October 1998 - The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors created the Office of Women’s Health (OWH) and Kathleen A. Torres, M.P.H., was appointed Director.  The Women’s Health Policy Council (WHPC), comprised of 22 community leaders appointed by the Director of Health Services, was established as an advisory body to develop policy and program initiatives to improve women’s health status and access to care in Los Angeles County and to promote research on diseases and conditions impacting women’s health. The WHPC represents clinicians, public and private sector agencies, service providers, advocates, and other healthcare stakeholders.

      March 1999 – Announcement by the Board of Supervisors of the establishment of the Office of Women’s Health at a reception for 500 held at the Regal Biltmore Hotel and funded by Kaiser Permanente.

      May 1999 – The second Women’s Health Policy Summit and the first Los Angeles County Research Conference on Women’s Health were convened by the OWH at the Regal Biltmore Hotel on two consecutive days.  Over 400 attended these important events focusing on “Enhancing Women’s Health Care Access Through Partnerships: Building Blocks for Action” and ”Setting Priorities: Translating Women’s Health Research into Action.”

      July 1999 – Reception for Dr. Diana Bonta, newly appointed Director, California Department of Health Services and former director of the Long Beach Department of Health Services, held at The City Club with 400 in attendance and funded by Sempra Energy.  Additionally, a meeting with 26 community leaders was convened to discuss local women’s health issues with Dr. Bonta.

      September 1999 – The OWH hosted a live interactive nationwide satellite broadcast “More than Just Mammograms” presented by the Centers for Disease Control.

      November 1999 – The OWH establishes a website – www.ladhs.org/owh.

      January 2000 –The Cervical Cancer Prevention & Education Initiative was launched with a Breakfast for 400 at The City Club, funded by Wyeth-Ayerst.  The Breakfast kicked-off the “Best Practices and Free Pap Test Fridays” pilot program sponsored by the Board of Supervisors to lower the high incidence rate of cervical cancer in Los Angeles County. Over 3,500 women participated in the highly successful 3 month pilot that provided free Pap tests and comprehensive health exams to low-income women in Los Angeles County who called the 1-800-793-8090 hotline.

      May 2000 – The OWH was honored by Soroptimist International “in recognition of outstanding achievement for advancing the status of women.”

     June 2000 – The OWH coordinated a video conference on “Human Papillomavirus: Associated Diseases in Reproductive Health Care.”

      August 2000 – “Vitality: Health and Wellness for Midlife and Beyond” Campaign.  The OWH coordinated a special discussion on menopause at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.  The event,  sponsored by Wyeth-Ayerst, featured supermodel Lauren Hutton, Dr. Donnica Moore of NBC’s Later Today and Dr. Shaparack Kamarei, Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine at the USC School of Medicine.  Over 400 women attended.

      September 2000 – The OWH was the recipient of the Silver 2000 Wyeth-Ayerst Hera Award for Improvement in Women’s and Children’s Health Outcomes.  The national award was for the  “Best Practices and Free Pap Test Fridays” pilot program.

      October 2000 -  The “Best Practices and Free Pap Test Fridays” pilot program was selected from 130 county projects as a prestigious Top Ten Award Winner by the Los Angeles County Quality and Productivity Commission. The OWH also became a member of the Million Dollar Club for saving the County approximately $2 million in treatment costs due to early intervention.

      November 2000 – Cultural & Linguistic Competency Standards – The OWH completed a one-year project facilitating the development of standards to improve access to health care for the large numbers of limited English-speaking people in Los Angeles County.

      January 2001 - The OWH kicked-off Cervical Cancer Awareness Month with a Community Breakfast for 400 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion to hear the results of the award-winning Best Practices and Free Pap Test Fridays pilot program. The Breakfast was funded by Wyeth-Ayerst and QueensCare.

      February 2001 - The OWH was awarded a $2.23 million dollar grant from The California Endowment for the Cervical Cancer Prevention and Education Initiative (CCPEI)’s multi-cultural Media, Outreach and Education campaign. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors matched funding for this innovative program.

      Throughout 2001, the OWH prepared for the implementation of the CCPEI Multi-Cultural Media, Outreach and Education campaign including hiring additional staff, increasing the appointment hotline to accommodate 8 languages, securing paptestla.org as a domain name for the website, and establishing 293 Community Partners and a Clinical Provider Network.

      September 2001 – QueensCare awarded a $1.2 million dollar grant for inpatient cervical cancer treatment services in support of the CCPEI.

      October 2001 –The first quarterly Community Partners meeting was held. Hosted by L.A. Care, sixty-six organizations previewed the CCPEI Communications Plan and provided comments.

      November 2001 – The first CCPEI Communications Plan focus group was held at H. Hubert Humphrey Comprehensive Health Center for African American women.

      The National Association of Counties recognized the OWH’s innovative program and named Los Angeles County the 2001 Achievement Award Winner in recognition for the “Development of an Effective Personalized Pap Smear Result Notification Procedure for Pap Smear Results.”

      January 2002 – The CCPEI was officially inaugurated with a Community Breakfast at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.  Mistress of Ceremonies Denise Dador welcomed over 400 participants for a preview of the multi-cultural marketing campaign. Special guests included Robert K. Ross, M.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of The California Endowment, breakfast sponsor and grantor of the Cervical Cancer Prevention & Education Initiative.

      March 2002 – The second Community Partners meeting was hosted by the Cancer Detection Center at Good Samaritan Hospital and featured updates and community response to the CCPEI.  Health Action Kits were handed out to the 80+ people in attendance representing 56 organizations.

      May 2002 - Launch of the Pfizer Women’s Health Mobile Outreach Pilot Program during “Women’s Health Month.”  This special program, funded with an unrestricted educational grant for $50,000 from Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Group, provides comprehensive health assessments to high-risk, low-income women who are not able to access preventive screenings for a variety of reasons including transportation and child care issues.

On May 14, 2002, Bruce Hensel of NBC (Channel 4) featured the Office of Women’s Health and the CCPEI in his special news health segment.  His news story included an interview with Director Kathleen Torres and featured the CCPEI multi-lingual hotline operators and coverage of OWH volunteers and staff working on the mobile van at one of the Pfizer Women’s Health Mobile Outreach Program sites. 

The First Annual Multi-Cultural Women’s Health and Wellness Day Festival was held on May 18^th at the Hansen Dam Recreation Center in the San Fernando Valley.  L.A. County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky and Elizabeth Saviano, Executive Director of the California Office of Women’s Health gave welcoming remarks at this lively festival featuring 80 vendors, entertainment and a live radio broadcast.  Approximately 1,000 people participated.

      August 2002 - As a result of the successful May pilot that screened 143 high-risk low-income women, the Pfizer Women’s Health Mobile Outreach Program began again on August 29^th to provide comprehensive health screenings and will run through the end of the year. Rita Singhal, M.D., provides medical oversight as Project Director.

      October 2002 - The QueensCare grant of $1.2 million for inpatient cervical cancer treatment services in support of the CCPEI was expanded to include all female cancers and the term was extended through December 2003.

During Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the OWH facilitated free breast cancer screenings in County parks in association with the L.A. County Department of Parks and Recreation, Pacific Coast Medical Services, and Queen of Angels and Good Samaritan Hospitals.  These First District screenings are sponsored by Supervisor Gloria Molina.