Local, State and Global Community UCSF Fresno Physicians Make Health Care More Accessible, Equitable for Vulnerable Populations By Barbara Anderson, UCSF Fresno Communications, barbara.anderson@ucsf.edu
A mission of UCSF Fresno is to improve health in the San Joaquin Valley and faculty at the regional campus of the UCSF School of Medicine are helping to achieve this goal by partnering with government and community organizations to take health care directly to vulnerable populations. In the 2022–2023 academic year, UCSF Fresno physicians brought health screenings and health care to hundreds of rural and urban underserved residents of the Valley. By advancing health equity and accessibility through outreach, they are preventing disease and improving overall health. Collaborating with city and county leaders, public health officials and community-based organizations, UCSF Fresno physicians are building bridges to vulnerable and underserved populations. As educators, they are integrating medical residents and students into the outreach, 32
providing opportunities for learning cultural humility and an understanding of the importance of meeting people where they are – in life, as well as where they live. UCSF Fresno outreach includes cardiology and vascular surgery physicians holding screenings and testing and care for people in rural cardiovascular deserts; surgeons giving wound care for unsheltered residents in Fresno’s urban core; UCSF Fresno Mobile Health and Learning (Mobile HeaL) providing health screenings, testing and care to Fresno’s unsheltered and bringing health services to agricultural workers on rural farms, at packing plants and equipment barns. The following stories take a closer look at some of UCSF Fresno outreach programs in 2022–2023.
