SAN FRANCISCO – HealthRIGHT 360 today unveiled its long-awaited Mobile Healthcare Services, extending the storied legacy of the non-profit’s origins as the Haight Ashbury Free Clinics and expanding its reach beyond the 30,000 people currently served at the organization’s brick-and-mortar sites across California. “These are challenging times in healthcare, especially for the vulnerable populations we serve. Being able to provide Mobile Healthcare Services is a huge step forward,” said Vitka Eisen, MSW, Ed.D HealthRIGHT 360 President & CEO. “Over the years, our clients have gotten sicker, they have many more complex health challenges, more co-occurring mental health conditions, and fewer resources. Everyone is somebody’s child, somebody’s mother, someone who matters, we see the person and we’re here to heal.”
Joining officials from HealthRIGHT 360 in today’s announcement were representatives of several of the project’s sponsors, Dr. Warren Browner, CEO of Sutter’s California Pacific Medical Center, Yat-Pang Au CEO of Veritas Investments, and Denise Miles, Senior Vice President of Wells Fargo.
San Francisco Supervisor Vallie Brown said, “A clinic-on-wheels that will drive right up to the areas of greatest need and provide high quality, non-judgmental services is guaranteed to reduce emergency department visits that are a high cost to the City. Over time staff can build trusting relationships with people who have lived on the margins and connect them with other resources like addiction treatment and job training.”
HealthRIGHT 360’s new mobile service builds on their innovative, community-based healthcare model that integrates medical, dental, mental health, and substance use treatment for people who are very low-income and often marginally housed or experiencing homelessness. The street-based model is staffed by a range of medical providers and an outreach team, the mobile clinic has two complete exam rooms, a bathroom, and an elevator wheelchair lift. Currently operating in the Tenderloin neighborhood, the services will expand to the Haight Ashbury and other areas of great need across San Francisco.
“This mobile clinic is all about meeting people where they are and bringing quality medical care directly to the people who need it most,” said San Francisco Mayor London N. Breed. “It’s another great example of HealthRIGHT 360’s commitment to responding directly to the most pressing needs of San Franciscans, and demonstrates the importance of nonprofit organizations, the private sector, and government working together.”
“We already held a couple of soft-launch mobile events, and not only did our existing patients come by but we saw dozens of walk-ins, many of whom had not received medical or dental care for quite some time,” Eisen said. “We meet people wherever they are in life, without judgment, and it engenders a degree of trust among our clients that enables us to provide great depth of care.”
“Sutter and CPMC are proud to provide funds to help acquire and equip this medical bus. HealthRIGHT 360 addresses the healthcare needs of the City’s homeless population, including medical issues related to complications from behavioral health and substance use issues, with a focus on people seeking services in the high-need Tenderloin neighborhood,” said Dr. Warren Browner, CEO of Sutter’s California Pacific Medical Center.
“Wells Fargo believes that everyone deserves compassionate care,” says Denise Miles, community relations senior consultant for Wells Fargo. “We are proud to support HealthRIGHT 360 in their effort to provide Mobile Healthcare Service to low-income patients and individuals experiencing homelessness.”
Said Yat-Pang Au, CEO of Veritas Investments: “As a San Francisco company, it’s a privilege to give back to our community and support HealthRight360’s innovative new mobile healthcare clinic on wheels. This clinic is providing essential services to the more vulnerable San Franciscans experiencing homelessness and addiction.”
Dr. Ana Valdés, Chief Healthcare Officer for HealthRIGHT 360 said, “Bringing our holistic, whole person view of healthcare to people exactly where they are is true patient-centered care and a key addition to San Francisco’s safety net that we have been a part of for over 50 years. Along with our core health services through the mobile site, I see expanding our collaborations with other social service resources to address not only healthcare needs but also those social determinants that hinder a person’s ability to be healthy. Our goal is to demonstrate this first mobile clinic as a successful model and expand with more for San Francisco and the Bay Area. We’ve raised a large portion of our initial costs, with a larger goal of raising $1 million.”
The HealthRIGHT 360 Mobile Medical Clinic was anchored by a significant anonymous donor and follow-on funding from Sutter Health CPMC, San Francisco apartment operator Veritas Investments, and Wells Fargo Bank. For those who want to be a part of this exciting opportunity, contact: Shabana Siegel, Vice President of Philanthropy at SSiegel@healthright360.org or (415) 361-5108.
About HealthRIGHT 360
HealthRIGHT 360 is a statewide healthcare organization headquartered in San Francisco, that for over 50 years has provided nonjudgmental, compassionate healthcare for people in need, often during the most bleak and isolated periods of their lives. Patients and clients who turn to us have lived through years of homelessness, poverty, addiction, incarceration, and untreated medical and mental health issues.
HealthRIGHT 360 got its start in the 1960s during the historic “Summer of Love” in San Francisco, where two of its legacy organizations, Haight Ashbury Free Clinics and Walden House, provided medical care and substance use disorder treatment to the youth who came to the City, motivated by the anti-war movement, music, sex, drugs, and the desire to bring about cultural change.
Today, HealthRIGHT 360 is a critical component of the healthcare safety net, providing primary medical and preventive care to all persons seeking treatment, regardless of ability to pay or immigration status. It is now a Family of Programs comprised of ten healthcare organizations that made the decision to merge under the HealthRIGHT 360 umbrella. Last year our clinics cared for over 9,000 low income San Franciscans, many of whom were experiencing homelessness combined with multiple risk factors, including Hepatitis C, HIV/AIDS, hypertension, and opioid dependency. For more information: www.healthright360.org
About Sutter’s California Pacific Medical Center
California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC), part of the Sutter Health integrated network of care, is one of the largest not-for-profit medical centers in California.
At four campuses located throughout San Francisco, CPMC provides exemplary inpatient emergency and outpatient services, including specialized care for women and children, organ transplant programs and innovative orthopedic treatments.
From its origins in 1852 as a clinic for immigrants, the medical center enjoys a rich history of caring for the people of the community. CPMC is here to provide comprehensive care for people at every stage of life. Reaching deep into the community, CPMC offers education, screening and financial support in some of the City’s most underserved areas. California Pacific Medical Center enhances the well-being of people in the communities served through a commitment to compassion and excellence in healthcare services.
About Veritas Investments
San Francisco-based Veritas Investments, Inc., founded in 2007, is a premier operator of multi-family, urban retail and mixed-use properties in California. Veritas’ assets include more than 5,000 apartments and ground-floor commercial retail space. Vertically integrated, the firm provides property management, leasing, project management, redevelopment, accounting, asset management, financing, and investment management services. For further information: www.veritasinvestments.com
