Healing The Underserved

I saw an article today about the inherent need for health care for the poor and uninsured and was stuck by the similarities between a group of Tennessee-based health care providers who opened shop in the Los Angeles Sports Arena and our own clinicians here at St. Anthony Free Medical Clinic. The LA group, known as Remote Area Medical, is comprised of hundreds of hundreds of doctors, dentists, and other medical professionals who historically have focused on caring for impoverished rural populations. As we know here in the Tenderloin, the demand for health care for the underserved in big cities continues to grow and now the RAM doctors have taken to the busy streets in an effort to meet healthcare needs, much like we do every day here at St. Anthony Free Medical Clinic.

As Health Care Reform continues to move forward, I find myself feeling hopeful for the future of American health care – even if major changes won’t be entirely evident until 2014.  However, here in the Tenderloin we see the need for health care TODAY, the need for services for working  adults  and families and children right outside the St. Anthony Free Medical Clinic doors. We provide care to more than 3,100 poor and uninsured patients a year and many of whom will not be eligible for government health care coverage when it becomes available. We will be here, as we are today, providing those in need with the comprehensive healthcare they deserve.