By Cassandra Clark, Project Communications Director

Finding access to primary care services is a serious challenge for local residents who are uninsured and underinsured. Many cannot afford routine doctor visits, long-term disease management or other basic services. Often, we see patients in our emergency rooms with advanced illness because they have no access to a regular doctor. Thankfully, in our community, more people have access to low-cost and no-cost medical care because of community-based organizations that help fill the need.

The Davis Street Family Resource Center’s RotaCare Free Acute
Clinic in San Leandro and Tiburcio Vasquez Health Center in Hayward and Union City have been filling that gap by providing primary care, pediatric and dental services to local residents for many years.

So it was welcome and uplifting news when Sutter Health recently awarded $100,000 grants to each of these organizations. Sutter’s Community Clinic Access to Care Grant program is a commitment by the Sutter Health network to improve access to health care services in the communities that it serves.

When Eden Medical Center learned of the available funds through the Community Clinic Access to Care Grant program, the people of Eden immediately thought of these two clinics. Eden has worked with these two organizations for many years, and both are highly regarded clinics in the community.

The $100,000 grant to the RotaCare Clinic is now being used to upgrade equipment and expand the clinic’s hours of operation. More than 60 doctors and nurses—many of whom work at Eden Medical Center and San Leandro Hospital—volunteer one of the four evenings a week that the clinic is open. San Leandro Hospital also provides basic radiology and laboratory services to clinic patients.

Tiburcio Vasquez Health Center is using their $100,000 grant to expand primary care services to residents of unincorporated areas of Cherryland and Ashland. These areas, adjacent to the cities of Hayward and San Leandro, have virtually no medical resources and very few physician offices. The clinic can now expand to these communities and offer primary, pediatric and maternity care.

The RotaCare Clinic and Tiburcio Vasquez Health Center were among 26 medical and dental centers in Northern California that benefited from the more than $2.5 million that Sutter Health’s Community Clinic Access to Care Grant Program awarded. Often, these good works go unnoticed, and so I thought I would share the good news. As always, your questions and comments are welcome.