Venice Family Clinic

Provides free, quality primary health care, dental care, vision care, mental health, medications and support services to 22,000 low-income and uninsured patients. Nearly 6,000 patients are children; 3,500 are homeless.

Why do we exist?

Venice Family Clinic was founded in 1970 by volunteer physicians and has since grown into the largest free clinic in the country. Its mission is to provide free, quality health care to people in need – people who desperately want to have health insurance but simply can’t afford it.

It’s easy to explain why we should all care about this. A few years ago, the CEO of a local private hospital, who was also a member of Venice Family Clinic’s Board of Directors, was asked what he would do if the Clinic were to ever close its doors. Without hesitating, he replied, “I’d shut down my emergency room.” This illustrates a startling fact: Venice Family Clinic is more than just a safety net for low-income and uninsured people; it is a safety net for the health care system itself in Los Angeles.

That’s why the Clinic is always looking for ways to expand services, reach more people in need, and stretch resources even further. In 2007, for example, Venice Family Clinic hired its own dental team, added a “street medicine” component to its homeless health care program, and procured an additional $2.5 million in in-kind donations. Nearly 22,000 patients visited the Clinic almost 117,000 times—an average of 400 appointments per day.

It would all be for naught, however, if Venice Family Clinic’s achievement were measured only in volume, or if it came at the expense of the human touch that makes the Clinic not just a medical facility but a medical home. This is one of Venice Family Clinic’s biggest contributions to the health care system—that patients want to come here. They come at first, of course, because it is free; but they come back because they trust the Clinic’s doctors and nurses, they feel safe in its buildings, they receive quality care, and they are treated with dignity. These are the touchstones of Venice Family Clinic’s work. They always will be.

What have you accomplished?

The last 38 years are filled with stories of uninsured individuals who have gotten the care they needed – in some cases saving their lives – through Venice Family Clinic. Some were diabetics or asthmatics, others needed transplants, others were depressed and contemplating suicide. Then there are those who simply needed routine care – immunizations or dental work or eye glasses – so they could stay healthy, remain in school, or keep their jobs.

You can view some of these patient stories by visiting http://www.youtube.com/user/VeniceFamilyClinic

	How do you help people in my community?		Why do you need my support?
	How can I be sure that you will use my money wisely and won't waste it?		Can I Volunteer? How?