History
Through a variety of locations and two name changes over four decades of service to local communities, South Bay Family Health Care remains as committed to our mission now as we were in 1969: to provide access to quality health care for individuals and families, regardless of their ability to pay.
Here is a brief history of South Bay Family Health Care :
1969: South Bay Free Clinic is incorporated as a non-profit 501(c)(3) public benefit corporation with a licensed clinic in Manhattan Beach.
1980: A group of volunteer physicians purchases property in Gardena and expands into a small clinic to extend services eastward into the Gardena and Harbor Gateway areas.1987: As the AIDS epidemic becomes more widespread, South Bay Free Clinic establishes the first HIV/AIDS program in the South Bay.
1995: Los Angeles County creates the “Public Private Partnership” program, contracting with SBFHC and other free and community clinics to provide primary care for residents who earn less than 133 1/3 percent of the Federal Poverty Level.
1999: School-based clinic is established on the campus of Carson High School during the fall school session.
1999: South Bay Free Clinic moves its flagship health center from Manhattan Beach to Redondo Beach, leasing a two- story, 9,500 square foot medical building on Artesia Blvd. The move doubles the clinic’s capacity.
2000: Name changes to South Bay Family Healthcare Center to better reflect an expanded range of services.
2002: In response to requests for additional services in the Gardena/Harbor Gateway area, SBFHC purchases the property next door to its existing Gardena clinic, and constructs a new, one-story 9,000 square foot facility. The building doubles capacity at that site.
2003: SBFHC meets rigorous federal guidelines for quality of care and administration, earning accreditation as a Federally Qualified Community Health Center (FQHC), one of only 900 such clinics nationwide, under Section 330 of the Public Health Services Act. SBFHC receives additional federal funding and adds community members to its board.SBFHC expands into Inglewood, opening the Dr. Claudia Hampton Clinic to provide much needed primary care in this underserved community.
2007: SBFHC expands again to meet the needs of its patients, entering into a partnership in Inglewood to provide additional OB/Gyn services to complement the Dr. Claudia Hampton Clinic.2008: To meet increasingdemandforpediatric services SBFHC assumes direction of the Healthy Kids Express, a 40-foot mobile health center. In its initial deployment, the van travels weekly to four elementary schools in the Hawthorne School District to provide immunizations, well-child checks and sick care. Additionally, the van makes frequent appearances at health fairs and immunization events.
Affirming its commitment to preventive and primary health care for families throughout the South Bay, SBFHC makes a subtle but significant change in its name: to South Bay Family Health Care. The new name reflects the clinic’s growth from a single medical facility in the beach cities focused on family planning to its present-day operation of four health centers, a school-based clinic and the Healthy Kids Express.
South Bay Family Health Care will celebrate its 40th anniversary in 2009, recognizing its four decades as a strong community presence and leading advocate for health care access for all in the South Bay.
