CONTENTS
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Daniel A. Segedin, Chair
Nelson Branco, MD, Chair Elect
Jerry Oken, Secretary
Martin Weil, Treasurer
Freshte Kashani, Member-at-Large
Alyssa H. Morris
Marcy Norenius
Wade Flores
Michael Harris
Mark Jacobs, MD
Kathleen Roche
Jim Tavaszi
MISSION
Our mission is to promote health and wellness through excellent, compassionate care for all.
VALUES
Integrity: We strive for professional excellence that requires personal and organizational integrity and a collective commitment to high standards and ethical behavior.
Equity: We embrace opportunities for culturally responsive communication and actively work to dismantle barriers to health equity.
Excellence: We commit to accountability in all we do, and demonstrating respectful, courteous, and compassionate care of the highest quality for our patients, staff, and community.
Resilience: We work to strengthen and enhance the adaptive capacity of the organization to grow sustainably and strategically.
CEO MESSAGE:
A MILESTONE YEAR – OUR COMMITMENT STRENGTHENED
We live in challenging times. The pandemic continued to bring its share of difficulties throughout the year, requiring a significant amount of dedicated resources and perpetuating staffing shortages. Extreme weather regularly reminds us that climate change continues to impact our health and well-being. Gun violence and mass shootings are a growing public health crisis. Women are being denied vital reproductive health services in a growing number of states. These issues – and inflation – hit our already-reeling underserved communities the hardest.
There’s no sugar coating it: All of this and more have taken a toll. As health care professionals, it’s in our nature to ask, “What can I do?” and “How can I help?” At Marin Community Clinics, we also asked, “How can we remain resilient?”
I find it helpful to look back when seeking inspiration. This being our 50th anniversary, I had an opportunity to do just that – reflect on our history and
connect with past and present leaders. There’s a reason why Marin Community Clinics has been a pillar of the community health care movement for decades. We push forward during trying times. We support each other and learn from adversity. We come back stronger.
Opening our newest clinic (the West San Rafael Clinic) is a great example of this. Our teams collaborated and delivered – despite supply chain shortages and the myriad of aforementioned challenges. This required working together, pooling resources and talents across departments, and adapting.
This is how we remain resilient. We’re not simply responding, we’re taking action to address the needs of our patients and community for years to come. We’re continually improving, boosting access to care, and changing lives for the better.
I am thankful for all of our staff, who have found a way to persevere during these times, and I am extremely grateful for you: our most engaged and supportive community health care advocates.
Together, we are maximizing our impact.
Mitesh Popat, MD, MPH
OUR IMPACT: BY THE NUMBERS
We evolve, innovate, and respond to the needs of our diverse patient community. We served 38,362 individual patients between July 1, 2021 and June 30, 2022.
INCOME AS PERCENT OF POVERTY GUIDELINE*
71% of patients fall below the Federal Poverty Guideline.
PATIENTS BY PAYOR SOURCE
Our Certified Enrollment Counselors assist patients in applying for insurance coverage services.
PERCENT OF PATIENTS BY AGE
PERCENT OF PATIENTS BY RACE
14,095 vaccines administered over the past year, including boosters
CONTINUED COVID-19 RESPONSE
From the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Marin Community Clinics has provided a crucial coordinated response on behalf of our community and in collaboration with Marin Health & Human Services.
When a new wave of Omicron subvariants surged locally from December 2021 through the summer of this year, we remained resolute in our commitment to our patient population.
- Weekly mass vaccination pop-up clinics (for patients & community at large)
- More than 146,000 free rapid test kits distributed
- Coordinated outreach, testing, and education at twice-weekly Health Hubs
131,683
55,529
199,855
Meeting patients where they are: Total visits includes expanded access to telehealth care and in-person visits between July 1, 2021 & June 30, 2022.
12,643
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Why do we work here?
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Why Marin Community Clinics?
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Why compassionate health care for all?
On March 30th, more than 400 Marin Community Clinics staff masked-up and packed the sizable event space at Embassy Suites in San Rafael. The occasion? We were there to get inspired at our first all-staff retreat in years.
Among the team-building exercises and presentations, Clinics staff were asked: “What’s your why?” and staff jotted down responses on a Post-it Note. There were no wrong answers – all of them led to why Marin Community Clinics is special.
As we continue to celebrate 50 Years of Touching Lives Through Health, we wanted to share a few of these reflections.
This is our why.
Watch the video to hear more from some of our longest-serving employees.
What’s YOUR why? (Why do you support Marin Community Clinics?) Visit our YouTube channel and leave a comment on this video to let us know!
ABOVE & BEYOND:
MEET THE REFERRALS TEAM: GUIDING PATIENTS TO SPECIALTY CARE
Evelin Fernandez, Specialty Services Manager, with team members (L to R): Claudia Ledesma, Militza Norzagaray, & Ricardo Santa Rosa
It was a scary moment for 19-year-old Maria G. She was in excruciating pain. Something – a tiny foreign object – had gotten lodged in her eye. She didn’t know what it was and wasn’t able to wash it out. She knew she needed help.
Maria’s father, whom she lives with, took her to the emergency room. She was referred to an ophthalmologist, but the initial costs just to be seen were more than Maria or her father could afford. Maria’s situation was complicated but not uncommon: she speaks little English, did not have insurance, and was new to both the U.S. and Marin County. Someone at the hospital recommended she visit Marin Community Clinics.
Two days later, Evelin Fernandez, Specialty Referrals Manager, got involved. She was on the phone with Clinics Optometrist and Assistant Clinical Professor at UC Berkeley, Patrick Clark, OD. Dr. Clark had just examined Maria’s eye and knew the situation was serious. Something (likely a tiny piece of an agave-like plant) had penetrated Maria’s eye and there was a possibility it may have set-off an infection. Additional imaging would be required to determine the severity of the damage, and with the patient’s eyesight potentially at-risk, Dr. Clark conveyed that she would need an urgent referral.
Advocating for Patients
In a situation like this, Fernandez knows what to do. Having worked within the Referrals department for seven years, and helping it grow from six team members to 19, she’s now a well-connected expert. A big part of her team’s role is connecting patients to the growing list of specialists within Marin Community Clinics’ network (such as urologists, podiatrists, and cardiologists, to name a few). If a patient requires surgery, diagnostics, or any procedure outside the Clinics’ scope of services – she involves partners like Kaiser Permanente, MarinHealth, or Operation Access, among others.
Fernandez first connected Maria to the Clinics’ Enrollment Services department. Maria was eligible for Medi-Cal, which opened up additional care options. Then, she landed Maria a next-day appointment at Kaiser. “Thanks to great teamwork, Maria was able to get insurance, and received the emergency surgery she needed – all within 24 hours,” said Fernandez.
Advocating for Patients
Like most medical terminology, the administrative jargon for this type of work (“processing referrals”) doesn’t do it justice. Fernandez’s description is better: “We’re advocating on behalf of the patients to get them the care they need,” she explains, “We’re the bridge.” The Referrals team’s success requires close communication with Care Navigators, Case Managers, Medical Assistants, providers, and the Enrollment Services team – all of whom work together to get the patients the best possible care.
After Maria underwent surgery, Clinics staff followed up. Fernandez was relieved to learn that Maria was on the mend – and that the vision in her left eye was restored. Maria was happy to share her story. She wants more people to know about the excellent service she received at Marin Community Clinics – her new medical home.
HIGHLIGHTS & KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
- A Certificate of Achievement was awarded from the California Department of Public Health for achieving 79.3% childhood immunization rate.
- Up and running: the IT Department relocated the Clinics’ primary data center and was pivotal in launching our newest clinic location and administrative offices.
- Enrollment Services increased enrollments for Medi-Cal with California’s expanded eligibility: Anyone over the age of 50 (regardless of documentation status) is now eligible for full scope Medi-Cal services.
- Quality Assurance & Improvement launched a collaborative initiative with MarinHealth Medical Center to improve breast cancer screenings, diabetes management, and care transitions from hospital to home.
- The Marin Community Clinics Employee Picnic at McNears Beach brought needed smiles and fun activities for Clinics staff and families. For many, it was the first social gathering since the pandemic started. The beautiful weather, tasty BBQ, and fun family activities made for a wonderful time.
- Twice-weekly Health Hubs continued throughout the year, providing fresh food for families in need. The Hubs are also a trusted source for COVID-19 information, vaccines, and free supplies including rapid test kits and N95 masks.
- A return to in-person events: This year’s Summer Solstice Celebration was special. We paid tribute to our legacy and honored 50 Years of Touching Lives Through Health! Generous supporters came together as one big family as we congratulated 2022 Community Health Champions: Erik Schten, MD and Marian Huntington.
- Opening a new clinic: Despite the hindrance of supply chain shortages, the modern telehealth-forward West San Rafael Clinic opened. The new clinic adds more convenience and access to services for our patient community, and further integrates comprehensive care.
- Continuing to recruit, retain, and acquire top talent: As the job market remains extremely competitive, the Human Resources team completed trainings, recruited and on-boarded over 200 qualified candidates, and committed to implementing compensation initiatives to achieve pay equity.
“Our culture of compassionate care is driven by the people that work here… We’re constantly working to increase and expand our service lines for patients.”
–– Melanie Thompson, DO, Chief Medical Officer