Investing in Potential, Strengthening Healthcare

The Chuck Lorre Family Foundation’s extraordinary $30 million gift to establish the Chuck Lorre Allied Health School, part of Cedars-Sinai Health Sciences University, is already paying dividends. According to the American Hospital Association, there will be a shortage of about 100,000 healthcare workers by 2028. As the need for medical professionals continues to grow, Cedars-Sinai is leveraging visionary philanthropy from The Chuck Lorre Family Foundation to meet the moment, with a cadre of newly minted graduates and a fresh crop of students studying for a bachelor of science degree in respiratory therapy or certification as a pharmacy technician, clinical laboratory scientist or radiation therapy technician.

A key focus of the school is creating opportunities through nontraditional pathways for candidates with diverse backgrounds—graduates like Fariba Fazeli, who began the Pharmacy Technician Program in her late 50s.

“The Chuck Lorre Allied Health School introduced me to pharmacy and the vital role pharmacy technicians play in patient care,” Fazeli said. “The training strengthened my confidence and prepared me to pursue opportunities that meaningfully improve patient outcomes and support community health.”

The school’s programs, which last six to 24 months, offer flexible schedules that enable students to continue working as they train for careers in the medical field.

“The support from my instructors and the structure of the program kept me focused and moving forward as I balanced school, work and personal challenges,” said Jayson Flores Sanchez, who completed the Pharmacy Technician Program in February 2026. “My experience helped prepare me to enter the healthcare field with both the knowledge and real-world mindset needed to make a meaningful impact.”

Funding from The Chuck Lorre Family Foundation gives students access to mentors who are seasoned professionals in their fields. Paula-Ann Salango, a clinical laboratory scientist educator at the Chuck Lorre Allied Health School, worked her way from the lab bench into leadership at Cedars-Sinai’s main clinical laboratory and is now helping build the school’s Clinical Laboratory Scientist (CLS) Program.

“It’s wonderful to get to be a part of creating opportunities for CLS students—equipping them with the tools to contribute to patient care while working behind the scenes in a hospital, which can be such a fulfilling career,” Salango said. “I’m thrilled to be a bridge to their future.”

Thanks to The Chuck Lorre Family Foundation’s generosity, that future includes jobs that enable graduates, many of them from underserved communities, to increase their incomes dramatically.

The impact of the foundation’s gift has been nothing short of transformational.

“I love watching my students evolve from pharmacy beginners into confident, workforce-ready professionals,” said Joycelyn Frederick, director of the Pharmacy Technician Program. “It’s inspiring to know that we are genuinely changing lives.”