Focusing on wellness, not sickness, encourages people to make wiser healthcare decisions.  Preventative causes of illness and death, like tobacco smoking, poor diet and physical inactivity, are estimated to be responsible for nearly a million deaths annually—almost 40 percent of total yearly mortality in the United States.  About 80 percent of today’s healthcare costs are for treating people with chronic yet preventable diseases.

As the adage says, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”  BCHD’s wellness and healthy living programs and services are aimed at making illness prevention an integral part of the classrooms, workplace and homes of the beach cities. 

Mission
To enhance community health through partnerships, programs and services for people who live and work in Hermosa, Manhattan and Redondo Beach.

Vision
A healthy beach community.

Core Values

• Compassion: Seeks to connect with others in their life circumstance; demonstrates “perspective-taking” abilities; promotes self-esteem and self-advocacy skills in others; demonstrates a caring attitude toward others; validates people’s needs. 
• Integrity: Is genuine and transparent when dealing with others; values honesty; is honorable and ethical; holds oneself accountable to the same standard of performance at all times (even if no one is watching); acts on believes and values that promote a commitment to health and wellness.
• Accountability: Takes responsibility for actions and decisions; proactively seeks solutions and resolves problems; fosters a safe and clean environment; utilizes evidence-based standards, metrics and benchmarks; is truthful when dealing with public and co-workers.
• Excellence: Motivates others to model healthy behaviors in the community; learns for mistakes and values the experience; strives for continuous performance improvement; harvests resources; embraces change, decision-making and calculated risk-taking.