The Social Action Community Health System (SACHS) began 35 years ago as a part-time volunteer effort by Loma Linda University and Medical Center faculty and students who were struck by the large portion of the local community's population that could not access the regular health-care system. For many years this University effort to provide primary care services to the medically underserved was limited to a few hours per week at various community centers and church facilities. During this time, SACHS staff (1.5 FTE) and volunteers served about 3,000 patients annually.
In 1995, the U.S. Air Force donated a 42,300 square foot, equipped health clinic facility at the former Norton Air Force Base that enabled SACHS to begin providing full-time, low cost, comprehensive community care. Known as SACHS-Norton, this clinic offers a full complement of services. SACHS' expansion was enabled by $4 million in private philanthropic contributions from individuals, corporations, and foundations. Notable among foundation support have been major program development and infrastructure building grants from The California Endowment and W. K. Kellogg Foundation.
Today, SACHS is a three-clinic system (SACHS-Norton and two satellite clinics, all within the City of San Bernardino) that serves 32,000 patient visits annually. Although SACHS is still led and coordinated by Loma Linda University, the service it renders to the medically underserved community is increasingly the result of a collaborative effort on the part of public and private community representatives that see these clinics as vital to health care in the region.
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Last Revised: Thu, Mar 29, 2007