The Beginning

The San Francisco Free Clinic was founded in 1993 by two family physicians. Recognizing that in a city of great medical resources, many people still went without care due to lack of insurance, the founders opened the free clinic in order to care specifically for this population.

Drs. Richard and Tricia Gibbs closed their successful private practice, and moved all their equipment into a modest townhouse in the Richmond District of San Francisco. 

Their next step was to seek support from the medical community. The response was overwhelming. Hundreds of physicians and several hospitals and other medical facilities offered to provide their services free of charge to clinic patients. 

In 2000, the clinic moved into a larger building with more exam rooms at 4900 California Street. Today, the clinic is in this corner St. Anne Victorian in the Richmond District, and though the medical facilities are more advanced than at the prior site, it still maintains the pleasant, homey atmosphere so cherished by our staff and patients.

Clinic Services

Today, the uninsured can obtain a variety of primary care and preventive services at the clinic at no cost. If specialty care is needed, patients are referred to our network of volunteer specialists. Those requiring hospitalization or surgery are referred directly to county services.

Since opening in 1994, the clinic has provided more than 100,000 patient visits. Medications valued at many millions of dollars have been obtained free of charge for our patients. Hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of specialty care have been dispensed by our volunteers at no cost to the patient.