FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 15, 2017
MEDIA CONTACT
Ivan Becerra | 415.392.1000
SAN FRANCISCO — HealthRIGHT 360, one of California’s largest community health care providers, and Women’s Community Clinic, a nonprofit provider of health services for low-income women and girls in the Bay Area, today announced plans to merge. The merger will bring together two of San Francisco’s most dynamic and beloved community providers, combining Women’s Community Clinic’s innovative health workforce training model and 18 years of women’s health care with HealthRIGHT 360’s burgeoning statewide network of primary care, substance-use disorder, mental health and re-entry services.
The decision was unanimously approved by both boards of directors, with an August 1, 2017, target for completing the merger.
“This merger is very important for HealthRIGHT 360 as it will help us strengthen and expand services for low-income women and girls in San Francisco,” said Dr. Vitka Eisen, CEO of HealthRIGHT 360. “Women’s Community Clinic’s cultural inclusion and harm reduction model, coupled with its health workforce development expertise, will enhance HealthRIGHT 360’s inclusive and nonjudgmental approach to care.”
The merger represents a significant step forward in HealthRIGHT 360’s vision to provide whole-person, integrated health care to all San Franciscans. Born from the 2011 merger of San Francisco’s Haight Ashbury Free Clinics and Walden House, HealthRIGHT 360 has since expanded services and locations, and now serves more than 38,000 people a year throughout California.
“We are pleased to have found a partnership that will preserve the services for women and girls that the Women’s Community Clinic has provided for nearly 20 years,” said Carlina Hansen, the Clinic’s executive director. “We know both organizations share complementary missions, to serve vulnerable populations with high-quality care. By joining forces we’ll provide fuller integration of health services for low-income women and girls in San Francisco.”
Women’s Community Clinic serves about 4,000 patients annually at its location in the Western Addition. The Clinic’s Outreach Program engages with approximately 350 women who are experiencing or facing homelessness in San Francisco’s Mission District each year. Since its founding in 1999, the Women’s Community Clinic has trained more than a thousand aspiring health care providers, advocates and leaders, the vast majority of whom have gone on to pursue careers in community health care.
Operating as “Women’s Community Clinic, a program of HealthRIGHT 360,” the Clinic will continue to provide essential health care and outreach services to thousands of low-income women and girls in San Francisco at its current location on Fillmore Street.
The Women’s Community Clinic will be overseen by Dr. Ana Valdes, HealthRIGHT 360’s Chief Healthcare Officer. Ms. Hansen will transition after 17 years as the Clinic’s Executive Director to a new position as a Senior Program Officer at California Healthcare Foundation.
About Women’s Community Clinic
Since 1999, Women’s Community Clinic has provided a health sanctuary for low-income, underserved Bay Area women and girls. The Clinic’s integrated health program – which includes sexual and reproductive health services, primary care, and mental health counseling – serves more than 4,000 clients annually, running on the strength, commitment and passion of its small staff and over a hundred volunteer health worker trainees. By coupling direct health care delivery with community-based outreach, the Clinic serves some of San Francisco’s most vulnerable populations – those who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.
About HealthRIGHT 360
For 50 years, HealthRIGHT 360 has provided primary medical care, mental health services and substance-use disorder treatment to those who can least afford it so they can rise and make positive change – for themselves, their families and their community. HealthRIGHT 360’s family of programs includes Asian American Recovery Services, Haight Ashbury Free Clinics, Lyon-Martin Health Services, North County Serenity House, Rock Medicine, Prototypes, Tenderloin Health Services, Walden House and Women’s Recovery Association. HealthRIGHT 360 is a vital part of California’s health care landscape.
