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"Health Care is a Right, Not a Privilege." ® Since 1967
For Immediate Release HAIGHT ASHBURY FREE CLINICS AND WALDEN HOUSE MERGE San Francisco, July 6, 2011 – Two of San Francisco’s most revered nonprofit social service agencies – Haight Ashbury Free Clinics and Walden House – announced today that they have merged into a single organization that will provide both primary care and behavioral health services to the most vulnerable members of our society. “This merger will give our clients a seamless integration of care, allowing them multiple entry points to access primary and mental health care,” said Dr. Vitka Eisen, CEO of the new Haight Ashbury Free Clinics-Walden House, and herself a graduate of Walden House’s acclaimed substance abuse treatment program. “We now have the expanded capacity to provide comprehensive medical, substance abuse and mental health care to the community we serve. I’m excited by the range and quality of care we’ll be able to offer our clients.” Founded in 1967 during the Summer of Love, the invaluable Haight Ashbury Free Clinics (HAFC) has been an innovator in delivering integrated health care services to many of the people who can least afford them. Its famous motto is “Health Care is a Right, Not a Privilege.” Like Walden House, it serves the uninsured, the homeless and the socio-economically disenfranchised, including those with HIV/AIDS. Eighty percent of HAFC’s clients have incomes below the Federal Poverty Level. Last year, HAFC provided primary medical care to 7,559 patients at its historic home on Clayton Street and at its Integrated Care Center in the Mission District. Walden House, which was founded in the Haight-Ashbury in 1969 to help homeless adolescents with substance abuse problems, is a national leader in recovery services. Last year, it served 9,206 clients with mental health and substance abuse problems at its various residential and outpatient centers around California. These include in-prison treatment programs, and facilities in San Francisco and Los Angeles providing drug and alcohol treatment and mental health, vocational and housing services for people transitioning back into their communities. The boards of both nonprofit agencies embraced the merger as a way to create a sustainable, efficient and far-reaching organization that could provide comprehensive care to its clients. The combined organization, which has an operating budget of $60 million, will save $1 million annually in administrative costs. “Those savings will all go to client services,” Dr. Eisen said. In August, Walden House will move its behavioral health intake department, now located at Mission and 15th streets, into the HAFC intake center located at 1735 Mission. All clients seeking care, whether it’s medical, mental health services or substance abuse treatment, will come through the same welcoming door. “We see this merger as a model for other nonprofits in these economically trying times,” Dr. Eisen said. “It allows us to keep our mission at the forefront and continue to serve our community’s most vulnerable people.” www.waldenhouse.org -------- www.hafci.org
The Clinics are internationally known for its profound commitment to its clients and for its many significant health care innovations. Our Integrated Care Center marks another innovative milestone in The Clinics’ 42-year history of our commitment to those people who are most in need and that embodies our philosophy of “any door is the right door”. We now have two medical clinics: Our historic clinic at 558 Clayton at Haight And a new clinic in our Integrated Care Center located at 1735 Mission at 13th
Excellence in Care. Award Winning Results. The Mission of Haight Ashbury Free Clinics is to increase access to healthcare for all and improve the health and well being of our clients. The Clinics provides free, high quality, demystified and comprehensive health care that is culturally sensitive, non-judgmental and accessible to all. During the social revolution of the 1960s, the Haight Ashbury Free Clinics were established to help the thousands of young people on the street in the Haight Ashbury district whose lives were affected by drug and alcohol abuse, mental and physical problems. With nowhere to turn, they found treatment and support when traditional services turned their backs on them. Since then, The Clinics have grown to become one of the largest multi-service providers in Northern California.
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