CLINIC PARTNER SPOTLIGHT – Saban Community Clinic
Born during the infamous 1967 Summer of Love, Saban Community Clinic began as a free clinic staffed and run by volunteers.
Since then, the Los Angeles-based health care provider has grown into a Federally Qualified Health Center that includes four full-service locations, a satellite clinic and a mobile van that collectively served nearly 23,000 patients in 2022.
And the clinic is doing much more than providing medical care – they’re transforming lives with support services that include opening clinics to unhoused patients to access shower facilities, providing case management services to assist in reaching other social services, helping patients sign up for insurance coverage, assisting with transportation needs, providing language assistance and connecting local schools to pediatric services.
“In 2022, we helped almost 9,000 individuals enroll in a health plan,” said Jackie Provost, Chief Strategy Officer at Saban Community Clinic. “We provided 5,000 showers to the unhoused and in the early days of the clinic, we were the first provider to offer HIV services. We want high quality services to be accessible to everyone.”
Even in a city as large as Los Angeles, their patients face significant barriers to accessing specialty care. Especially for their growing numbers of unhoused patients.
“My role at the clinic is street-based, so I’m working exclusively with homeless individuals,” shared Negeen Farmand, physician assistant. “Even after more than a decade in practice, the severity of problems these individuals face is shocking. Having access to MAVEN Project is a game changer. We can get answers so fast from specialists who have deep experience. It’s so reassuring for both patients and providers.”
Providers at Saban Community Clinic collaborate with MAVEN Project providers to develop an assessment plan that will work based on resources available to the patient, as well as how best to follow up and monitor progress.
“Even in Los Angeles, where it may seem health care providers are plentiful, it can take months to get into a specialist,” Farmand added. “Through MAVEN Project, we have the amazing privilege of getting answers almost immediately. I saw a patient recently who had a history of alcohol abuse and present with a persistent rash. A referral would have meant months of waiting, but with advice from a MAVEN Project dermatologist, the problem was solved in a mere ten days. Another patient’s legs were saved thanks to a consult with a MAVEN Project vascular surgeon who was always willing to share his wealth of knowledge.”
Other providers, like physician assistant Samantha Kumpf, have had similar experiences with MAVEN Project.
“MAVEN Project specialists are always so prompt,” she shared. “And I’ve learned so much that I’ll be able to apply to my work for years to come. It’s especially helpful working in mobile clinics, where access to care and supplies is more limited than usual and providers have to be creative to get results. Even if my patients had insurance, physically getting to a specialist is challenging.”
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