Free, Full Service Health Center Opens in Historically Neglected San Bernardino
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, January 8 2024
Contact: Cabot Petoia, clpetoia@gmail.com, 828-899-9239
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San Bernardino – Today, St. John’s Community Health – a network of public health clinics serving South, Central, and East Los Angeles – announced the opening of a new full service health center in San Bernardino – which will have a major impact on the area, where around 70 percent of low income families currently don’t have access to basic health care.
The new clinic, located at 500 N. Waterman Ave, is expected to serve between 30,000-40,000 patients annually once it is fully up and running. It will provide comprehensive medical care, dental care, behavioral health services, a pharmacy, space for programming, and more.
St. John’s is currently doing outreach to the local community through schools, restaurants and fast food establishments, parks and recreation centers, churches, and community organizations.
St. John’s will also open a second clinic in San Bernardino County, and two in Riverside County later this year.
“Access to comprehensive health care is a basic human right – and we are dedicated to helping ensure people in the Inland Empire have that right respected,” said Jim Mangia, president and CEO of St. John’s Community Health. “Everyone deserves to be treated with dignity – including undocumented folks, unhoused people, and those on low or fixed incomes.”
“We look forward to serving the community through free, affirming, culturally competent, high-quality and comprehensive health care,” said Dr. Sushant Bandarpalle, Chief Medical Officer at St. John’s Community Health.
At their clinics in Los Angeles, St. John’s serves over 120,000 patients who access over 480,000 visits. They have been on the frontlines of preserving the Affordable Care Act, expanding state programs to include undocumented people, fighting COVID-19, and preventing the spread of Mpox. They currently run the largest transgender-specific healthcare program in the United States, serve those who are transitioning out of incarceration, and provide comprehensive care to unhoused people.