St. John’s Community Health started as a one-room, volunteer-run pediatric health clinic in 1964. Today, it is one of the largest non-profit healthcare providers in Los Angeles County: a Federally Qualified Health Center serving patients with multiple locations across Los Angeles, Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties. Their mission is to improve community health and reduce health disparities by delivering high quality, comprehensive services and impacting health and social policy.
St. John’s strives for health equity by addressing the health care needs of low-income, uninsured, and under-insured people in Central/South Los Angeles and Compton. As a first-responder in the communities hardest-hit by COVID-19, St. John’s launched a massive testing and contact tracing program in areas that had no access to testing.
St. John’s health clinics are situated in stand-alone, school-based, mobile, and affordable housing sites. Their approach includes culturally competent and bilingual care teams; integrated behavioral health and wellness programs; support for housing, food access, and legal needs; outreach and advocacy to reduce systemic barriers; community-first model with deep local partnerships; and care for all, regardless of insurance or immigration status.