August 10, 2011; Source: Yakima Herald | In Washington State, the Sea Mar Community Health Centers are in negotiation to take over Spanish-language radio station KDNA, known as “the voice of the farm worker.” The station has been embroiled in labor disputes serious enough to drive away financial backers and the previous board of directors. Sea Mar, however, is a large operation with more than 50 medical, behavioral health, and dental centers in the Puget Sound area, and it is apparently willing and able to infuse capital into the operation. It has also received approval from the FCC for the move.
Sea Mar says it sees the radio station as one more way to serve its community. KDNA is, in fact, the second Spanish-language radio station that Sea Mar has acquired. A spokesman for Sea Mar says that the biggest hurdle in the deal is the need to raise money for the station’s operations, but that the organization is not worried. “We’re confident that we can do it,” he said. “We have experience in writing grants. We don’t see a major problem doing that.”
Sign up for our free newsletters
Subscribe to NPQ's newsletters to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.
By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.
Assuming it can get its labor issues figured out, Sea Mar might just be on to something here. After all, radio is the perfect medium for public health messages. What sorts of unusual, baffling, or brilliant nonprofit organizational pairings have you noticed lately?—Ruth McCambridge