Press Release

CalOptima employees are dedicated to the agency’s mission of providing members with access to quality health care services in a compassionate manner. Reflecting a commitment to serve members even more, employees have again come together to offer two scholarships.

For the fourth year, CalOptima employees voluntarily raised money for an essay contest that recognizes a recent high school graduate and a current college student with $500 scholarships each. Ann Truong, a first-year student at UC San Diego, won for her essay about her volunteer work in local hospitals and passion to become a doctor in the future. Jonathan Way, a second-year pharmacy student at Chapman University, was selected for his essay about managing his own health condition and pursuing a Pharm.D. degree to pay it forward.

As the first-place winner, Ms. Truong was nominated by CalOptima for the Association for Community Affiliated Plans’ (ACAP) national scholarship. Her essay earned an additional $1,000 scholarship from ACAP to fund her studies in biology.

The scholarship contest, which runs each spring, is open to members of all ages pursuing a college degree in health care or social services. Members are asked to share how they have benefited from CalOptima’s services, how their current studies will help them in their chosen field and why they are a good candidate to receive the scholarship. No public money is used for the scholarships.

A county organized health system, CalOptima provides publicly funded health care coverage for low-income children, adults, seniors and people with disabilities in Orange County, California. CalOptima’s mission is to provide members with access to quality health care services delivered in a cost-effective and compassionate manner. In total, CalOptima serves more than 755,000 members with a network of more than 8,000 primary care doctors and specialists, as well as 40 hospitals.