Venice Family Clinic: Providing Quality Health Care to People in Need

The Venice Family Clinic (VFC) is a model for public health care. It began in 1970 as an after hours operation in a Venice dental office and has since expanded to seven locations, serving more than 24,000 patients with 103,000 visits a year, the largest of it kind in the nation. Liz Forer, the executive director of the clinic, attributes this growth to the Clinic's more than 2,000 volunteers, almost 500 of whom are physicians. What distinguishes the clinic from other medical establishments is what Forer says is missing in the national health debate: care. Through free programs that advocate health and nutrition, the clinic endows patrons the knowledge to maintain healthy lifestyles and to prevent otherwise avoidable afflictions.

Free, Quality Health Care
The Venice Family Clinic is the largest free clinic in the country, providing free, quality health care to people in need.

From Patient to Volunteer
"You can start at VFC needing our help and end up being able to help others and be part of the bigger community."

Venice Art Walk
"The Venice Art Walk is one of the most fun fund-raising events you'll ever go to."

Homeless Patients
"Homeless people are often different only because they are isolated, so the question is, 'How can we build a bond with whoever the person is?'"

Preventative Care
"It takes the heart of a volunteer to care, and that's what is required in a health care system."

Cultural Competence
"Cultural competence means many different things and it's something we're always striving to do better."

The Volunteers
"I took him out for breakfast to congratulate him because he had received his masters degree and is now a licensed family therapist. At the end of breakfast he gave me his card and said, 'Let's work it out so that I can see some of your patients.' So that's how it can come back around."