Community impact: Partnerships
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  2012-11-30


 
Sam is among the patients treated at Venice Family Clinic, which is affiliated with UCLA.
Sam is among the patients treated at Venice Family Clinic, affiliated with UCLA.
UC Health's impact extends far beyond the walls of its classrooms and hospitals. UC Health has affiliations with more than 100 county, Veterans Affairs and community-based health facilities.

These affiliations range from small to large. They include UC Irvine with Children's Hospital of Orange County, UC San Diego with Rady Children's Hospital-San Diego and UC San Francisco with San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center.

These partnerships span across California. For example, UC administers three statewide helplines. One is for poison control (UCSF School of Pharmacy). Another is for healthy pregnancies (UC San Diego School of Medicine). A third is for quitting smoking (UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center).

One of UC's newest affiliations highlights its role in the community. UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento and Dameron Hospital in Stockton will form a joint venture that will allow Dameron to strengthen its core medical services while delivering more care locally. The affiliation builds on UC Davis' history of successful collaborations through its primary care network, cancer care network and telemedicine network.

In Southern California, the Venice Family Clinic started as a small storefront operation in 1970. It has grown into the nation's largest free clinic, serving 25,000 patients, nearly two-thirds uninsured. Affiliated with UCLA, the clinic relies on 2,250 volunteers -- more than half from UCLA, including 1,100 students -- and a staff of 225 with 20 physicians and two dentists from UCLA.

The clinic is special not only for its size but also its soul: People like UCLA pediatrician Wendy Slusser and pediatric dentist Francisco Ramos-Gomez. They have designed programs to prevent childhood obesity and cavities so patients such as Sam (pictured) will maintain a healthy weight and healthy teeth. They also have developed training tracks so UCLA medical residents learn the ins and outs of community health.

They know that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure -- or in Sam's case, 38 pounds.

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