High-Impact Grantmaking
Lowering Healthcare Costs to Enable Successful Aging
Funded solely by successful entrepreneurs and philanthropists Gary and Mary West, the nonprofit Gary and Mary West Foundation is an outcomes-based foundation dedicated to lowering the cost of healthcare to enable seniors to successfully age in place with access to high-quality, affordable health and support services that preserve and protect their dignity, quality of life and independence. Since 2006, the Gary and Mary West Foundation has awarded over 700 grants totaling more than $280 million to nonprofit organizations and institutions that share our successful aging mission.
“Mary and I decided to give 100 percent of our fortune to charities and nonprofits that help provide quality and affordable healthcare to low-income seniors. We wanted the money that we worked so hard to earn to continue doing good work long after we’re gone.”
- Gary West
CHALLENGE
Overcoming Challenges to Aging in America
We are in the midst of one of the biggest demographic shifts in U.S. history as Baby Boomers turn 65 at the rate of 10,000 a day and people 85 and older become the fastest growing age group in America. This is already having a major impact on our healthcare system and community-based services, which are not scaled or structured to meet the demands, needs and expectations of seniors and their families. This is why the work of the Gary and Mary West Foundation, one of a handful of private foundations focused exclusively on helping seniors, is so important to the future of aging in America.
IMPACT
Fueling New Models of Care for Successful Aging
We are a catalyst for healthcare reforms and new solutions that enable successful aging. We provide grants for initiatives aimed at lowering the cost of prescription drugs and combatting generic drug shortages, expanding geriatric emergency care and PACE (Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly), improving oral healthcare for seniors, and creating California’s first Master Plan for Aging.
EMERGENCY
Responding to the COVID-19 Pandemic
Older Adults at Risk
The Gary and Mary West Foundation is providing emergency funding and assistance to several grantees to significantly increase food delivery for low-income seniors, provide personal protective equipment to frontline healthcare workers and enhance other senior-related services during this time of crisis. Here’s how we’re helping.
Serving Seniors
Helping to significantly increase in-home meal deliveries and senior-related services to low-income seniors throughout San Diego County
Challenge Center
Supporting remote operational needs while its physical therapy and specialized fitness services for seniors await reopening in La Mesa, CA
Elderhelp San Diego
Supporting community-based organization as it steps up food delivery and support services for seniors
INTERCULTURAL SENIOR CENTER
Supporting food pantry services, food delivery and case management for vulnerable seniors in Omaha, NE
Project Houseworks
Supporting operational needs of this nonprofit that provides free home repair and modifications to low-income seniors in Omaha, NE
Sharp Healthcare Foundation
Providing supplies, personal protective equipment and response training to healthcare workers caring for COVID-19 patients in San Diego County
Gary and Mary West senior dental center
Providing dollar-for-dollar matching grant to purchase and deliver Oral Hygiene Kits to vulnerable seniors in San Diego, CA
Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank
Supporting San Diego County's largest hunger-relief organization in delivery of food to poor seniors and their families
MED4OURWORLD
Supporting "Feed the Frontline" project to provide meals for healthcare workers caring for COVID-19 patients in San Diego County
San Diego Oasis
Providing computers, connectivity, computer training and access to online classes to prevent isolation and loneliness among low-income seniors in North San Diego County.
Leading Age California
Assuring seniors in Skilled Nursing Facilities and affordable senior housing have access to PPE and hand sanitizer to reduce the risk for infection from the coronavirus.
Regents of the University of California
Sponsoring the CITRIS and the Banatao Institute Responsive Innovation Webinar series to advance telehealth practices and policy for older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Motion Picture & Television Fund
Sponsoring the Social Isolation Impact Summit to fuel collaborations that tackle isolation and loneliness among older adults.
San Diego Seniors Community Foundation
Supporting the No Senior Alone Initiative to reduce social isolation in older adults impacted by COVID-19.
Fueling Models of Care Tailored for Seniors
California’s Master Plan for Aging
The Gary and Mary West Foundation is working with state government, community leaders, aging advocates, nonprofits and healthcare providers in a pioneering public-private partnership to develop and implement California’s first Master Plan for Aging – a bold investment in California’s future and the lives of seniors.
Learn MoreGary and Mary West Senior Dental Center
Poor oral health is a significant public health issue for seniors across the nation. As baby boomers retire and people live longer, access to affordable dental care becomes more difficult. Medicare, the primary health insurer for seniors, does not cover routine dental care, while Medicaid coverage for dental care varies considerably by state and is often limited or non-existent.
Learn MoreThe Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE)
The Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) model of care is centered on the belief that it is better for the well-being of seniors with chronic care needs and their families to be served in the community whenever possible. West Health has embraced the PACE model as a gold standard of care for the frail elderly and is committed to the development and advancement of person-centered healthcare.
Learn MoreGary and Mary West Emergency Department at UC San Diego Health
Emergency departments are the front-porch of our healthcare system, where 1 in 5 patients are seniors who frequently have multiple health and social challenges and unique needs. Geriatric emergency rooms promote best clinical practices for older adults and create a more positive and sensitive physical environment, which have the potential to improve health outcomes, better coordinate care, and reduce costs.
Learn MoreCommunity Initiatives
Making a Difference Every Day
Since 2006, the Gary and Mary West Foundation has generously supported outcomes-based nonprofit organizations and institutions that lower healthcare costs to enable successful aging. From funding research and advocacy to serving and delivering meals to low-income seniors to offering low or no-cost dental care to enabling older adults to safely age in place through new models of care, the Foundation and our grantees are making a difference for seniors every single day.
National Initiatives
Supporting Seniors Across the Country
The Gary and Mary West Foundation develops partnerships with nonprofit organizations that collaboratively achieve high-impact outcomes and provide advocacy, education, and resources to support lowering the cost of healthcare and aging initiatives.
About the Gary and Mary West Foundation
The Gary and Mary West Foundation, located in San Diego, CA, is part of West Health, a family of nonprofit and nonpartisan organizations that includes the Gary and Mary West Health Institute, and the Gary and Mary West Health Policy Center in Washington, DC. West Health is dedicated to lowering healthcare costs to enable seniors to successfully age in place with access to high-quality, affordable health and support services that preserve and protect their dignity, quality of life, and independence. Grant applications to the Gary and Mary West Foundation, solely dedicated to improving aging, are by invitation only.
Our Team
Foundation Staff
Shelley Lyford
Chief Executive Officer
Trustee
Timothy A. Lash, MBA
President
Zia Agha, MD
Chief Medical Officer
Sally Hallak, CPA
Chief Financial Officer
Ayrielle Franco, MPH
Program Officer
Vyan Nguyen, MD
Program Officer
James Womboldt
Director of Accounting
Brian Cerasoli
Accounting Manager
Brenda Schmitthenner, MPA
Consultant, Successful Aging
Foundation Trustees
Shelley Lyford
Trustee
Gary West
Founder and Trustee
Mary West
Founder and Trustee
Marc Harper
Trustee
West Health does not accept unsolicited business plans or proposals.