Grants and Special Projects

Coachella Valley Antibiotic Resistance Prevention (CVARP) Collaborative

The Coachella Valley Antibiotic Resistance Prevention Collaborative is a partnership of local healthcare facilities who work together to prevent the spread of antimicrobial resistance. This local effort was initially launched in 2018 with funding from the Desert Healthcare District, through Eisenhower Health, with technical support provided in-kind by the California Department of Public Health’s (CDPH) Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAI) Program. The collaborative continues to be supported and led by Eisenhower Health and CDPH’s HAI program.

Who is involved?

Over 13+ skilled-nursing facilities located throughout the Coachella Valley area and four acute care hospitals:

1. Eisenhower Health
2. Desert Regional Medical Center
3. John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital
4. Hi-Desert Medical Center

What are the focus areas of the collaborative?

1. Antimicrobial Stewardship
2. Diagnostic Stewardship
3. Infection Prevention and Control
4. Environmental Cleaning and Disinfection

Million Hearts® Initiative

As part of our population health efforts in the Epidemiology Department, we aim to identify conditions with significant and disproportionate epidemiologic burden and focus on ways that resources can be allocated to overcome the social determinants that drive poor health conditions in our patient population and community. Two of the significant health issues we see today are heart disease and stroke – the first and fifth leading causes of death in the United States (CDC, 2016).

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Million Hearts® initiative aims to prevent 1 million heart attacks and strokes by the year 2022. Partner actions are focused on a set or priorities including heart disease, stroke, and related conditions.

Eisenhower Health was recognized as the first Million Hearts hospital in the United States in February 2020. Click here or more information on Eisenhower Health’s recognition. Click here for more information on the Million Hearts Initiative.

What is Eisenhower doing to help prevent one million heart attacks and strokes by 2022?

Eisenhower is focusing its efforts in a number of areas, including hypertension prevention and control, cardiac rehab, and other cardiovascular health improvement efforts.

• Nutrition: to improve the nutritional quality and reduce sodium in foods served at Eisenhower, we are working alongside Eisenhower’s food and beverage contract vendors, Morrison Healthcare and Canteen Vending, to offer healthier food options in both the café and vending machines located throughout the campus.
• Physical Activity: to promote physical activity, Eisenhower’s Renker Wellness Center offers fitness and wellness classes to patients, staff, and the public. Click here to learn more about the Renker Wellness Center.
• Air quality: to mitigate poor air quality, Eisenhower implemented a Tobacco-Free Environment policy in 2008, as well as includes information on the Air Quality Index for those with sensitivities to poor air quality. Click here to view the Air Quality Index.

For more information about cardiovascular health, please see our Helpful Tools and Resources page.