Bay Area Hospitals - Operation Access

What is it?

Operation Access (OA) was created in 1993 to mobilize a network of medical volunteers, hospitals, and referring community clinics to provide low-income, uninsured people access to donated outpatient surgeries and specialty care that improve their health, ability to work, and quality of life. Two prominent local surgeons and a hospital executive founded and began the program in San Francisco with collaboration from one hospital, seven clinics and 15 medical volunteers. OA has now grown into a regional specialty care network that includes 90 clinics that refer patients, 35 participating hospitals and medical centers, and 1,200 medical volunteers.  Participating hospitals and surgery centers in the Bay area include: Alta Bates Summit Medical Center, a Sutter Health affiliate (Alta Bates Campus, Herrick Campus, Summit Campus); California Pacific Medical Center, a Sutter Health affiliate; David E. Marcus Cosmetic Surgery and Laser Center; Endoscopy Center of Marin; Eye MD Laser and Surgery Center; John Muir Medical Center (Concord and Walnut Creek); Kaiser Permanente (Antioch, Fremont, Hayward, Oakland, Redwood City, Richmond, San Francisco, San Rafael, Santa Rosa, South San Francisco, Union City, Walnut Creek); Marin General Hospital; Marin Ophthalmic Surgery Center; Marin Specialty Surgery Center, Mills Health Center; North Bay Regional Surgery Center; Novato Community Hospital, a Sutter Health Affiliate, Peninsula Eye Surgery Center, Peninsula Medical Center, Petaluma Valley Hospital; San Francisco Endoscopy Center; Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital – St. Joseph Health System, and Sonoma Valley Hospital.
OA has also worked with a coalition of health providers in Orange County, Southern Calif., to replicate the OA model which is now operating successfully as Access-OC.

Who is it for?

Operation Access is for the following groups:

• Medical professionals who want to volunteer locally to help the underserved.
• Low-income, uninsured patients living in the Bay Area (currently Marin, Sonoma, Contra Costa, Alameda, 
  San Francisco, and San Mateo counties) who need surgical or specialty care but have no insurance or
  necessary financial resources.
• Hospitals interested in expanding and/or strengthening their community benefit initiatives and/or
  providing charity care to those most in need.
• Community Health Centers needing a place to refer their patients who need specialty care.

Why do they do it?

In creating opportunities for medical professionals and hospitals to give back to their local communities, within a framework that ensures a high-quality standard of care, OA provides a valued referral resource for community clinics to treat the surgical needs of uninsured patients unable to access care through the public safety net. In addition, OA helps alleviate the burden on clinics and emergency departments when medical conditions persist untreated.

Impact

OA has increased access to quality surgical and specialty care for low-income, uninsured people throughout six Bay-area counties. To date, OA has arranged for more than 10,000 surgical and specialty services and facilitated more than $85 million in charity care (medical provider billing charges that were waived). The program has established a strong, sustainable community network of stakeholders that provide a strengthened safety net, as well as a culture of medical volunteerism and community benefit strengthened at the participating hospitals. For more information, visit www.operationaccess.org.

Contact: Benjamin Aune
President/Chief Executive Officer
Telephone: 415-733-0052
E-mail: ben@operationaccess.org