San Francisco City Clinic
Encyclopedia
San Francisco City Clinic also known as SF City Clinic or usually as City Clinic is a rather unique municipal public sexual health clinic
specializing in sexually transmitted infections testing and sexually transmitted disease
treatment, in addition to advocacy work and medical research. The center is located in the South of Market or "SoMa" district on the north-east side of San Francisco, California along San Francisco Bay
.
, Spanish
, Mandarin and Cantonese Chinese
, Tagalog
, and Russian
. Although there is a nominal US$10 flat rate charge no one is refused for lack of funds nor are they invoiced later. The health center also offers free counseling on genital, reproductive, STD, and prevention issues along with free condoms and lubricant. On average, the clinic sees over 100 patients daily. Many patients are San Francisco residents, but the clinic also serves patients from outside the city. The clinic also does outreach efforts with sex workers. City Clinic offers Emergency Post-Exposure Prophylaxis treatments for those that have recently come into contact with HIV. Rape reception services are also available.
communities. Starting in the year 2002 and continuing into 2003, the clinic as part of a national study helped to discover a large increase in gonorrhea
and syphilis
cases amongst gay and bisexual men that was attributed to the perception that HIV treatments had greatly improved making the condition less life threatening. San Francisco City Clinic also does extensive outreach in the predominately African-American Bayview-Hunters Point district because of the large incidence of new HIV cases in that community. The clinic followed various cohorts from the late 1970s to the late 1980s and participated in research to determine the causalities of HIV/AIDS in addition to maintain empirical data of the men studied.
or by light rail
and BART
from the nearby Civic Center/United Nations Plaza station. Those from outside the city may access the clinic from nearby Golden Gate Transit
, AC Transit
and SamTrans
service.
Sexual health clinic
Sexual health clinics specialize in the prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted infections.Sexual health clinics provide only some reproductive health services...
specializing in sexually transmitted infections testing and sexually transmitted disease
Sexually transmitted disease
Sexually transmitted disease , also known as a sexually transmitted infection or venereal disease , is an illness that has a significant probability of transmission between humans by means of human sexual behavior, including vaginal intercourse, oral sex, and anal sex...
treatment, in addition to advocacy work and medical research. The center is located in the South of Market or "SoMa" district on the north-east side of San Francisco, California along San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
.
History
San Francisco City Clinic is run by the City and County of San Francisco's Department of Public Health. The health center opened and began serving the sexually active members of San Francisco's communities in 1933. Its precursor was the Municipal Clinic of San Francisco opened in 1911 to treat prostitutes suffering from the "Red Plague". The clinic is located on 7th Street, at number 356, its current location where it has operated continuously since the health center's inception. The center has been researching the human immunodeficiency virus since 1970s. City Clinic has done extensive HIV research and how it affects the gay community in San Francisco including tracking the epidemic by zip codes and neighborhoods and mapping the severity of infections. In the 2000s craigslist.org added a link the clinic's website as a disclaimer on the page preceding the men seeking men section of the page. Since its opening the most common diseases treated were Gonorrhea, Syphilis, and Chlamydia and they continue to be so. Most of the clientele are teenages, people in their 20s, and gays and lesbians.Operations
The clinic offers low cost sexually transmitted disease testing and treatment in addition to birth control to anyone over the age of 12. It runs out of an old firehouse on 7th Street. The services are provided in EnglishEnglish language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, Mandarin and Cantonese Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
, Tagalog
Tagalog language
Tagalog is an Austronesian language spoken as a first language by a third of the population of the Philippines and as a second language by most of the rest. It is the first language of the Philippine region IV and of Metro Manila...
, and Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
. Although there is a nominal US$10 flat rate charge no one is refused for lack of funds nor are they invoiced later. The health center also offers free counseling on genital, reproductive, STD, and prevention issues along with free condoms and lubricant. On average, the clinic sees over 100 patients daily. Many patients are San Francisco residents, but the clinic also serves patients from outside the city. The clinic also does outreach efforts with sex workers. City Clinic offers Emergency Post-Exposure Prophylaxis treatments for those that have recently come into contact with HIV. Rape reception services are also available.
Research
The center coordinates with various medical research studies particularly those regarding HIV and gay, bisexual, and men who have sex with menMen who have sex with men
Men who have sex with men are male persons who engage in sexual activity with members of the same sex, regardless of how they identify themselves; many men choose not to accept sexual identities of homosexual or bisexual...
communities. Starting in the year 2002 and continuing into 2003, the clinic as part of a national study helped to discover a large increase in gonorrhea
Gonorrhea
Gonorrhea is a common sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoeae. The usual symptoms in men are burning with urination and penile discharge. Women, on the other hand, are asymptomatic half the time or have vaginal discharge and pelvic pain...
and syphilis
Syphilis
Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the spirochete bacterium Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum. The primary route of transmission is through sexual contact; however, it may also be transmitted from mother to fetus during pregnancy or at birth, resulting in congenital syphilis...
cases amongst gay and bisexual men that was attributed to the perception that HIV treatments had greatly improved making the condition less life threatening. San Francisco City Clinic also does extensive outreach in the predominately African-American Bayview-Hunters Point district because of the large incidence of new HIV cases in that community. The clinic followed various cohorts from the late 1970s to the late 1980s and participated in research to determine the causalities of HIV/AIDS in addition to maintain empirical data of the men studied.
Accessibility
The clinic is open Monday through Friday with varying hours of operation and services offered, no appointment is necessary nor available as this is a drop in clinic. Hours are eight in the morning until four in the afternoon Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and opening at one in the afternoon Tuesdays and Thursdays closing at six on the former and four on the latter. Patrons may park at metered parking along 7th street and surrounding roads. The area can be accessed by major arterials VanNess, Market, and Third Street in addition to Highway 101 and Interstate 80. Visitors may also use public transportation to get to San Francisco City Clinic with nearly a dozen bus lines within a few blocks provided by the San Francisco Municipal RailwaySan Francisco Municipal Railway
The San Francisco Municipal Railway is the public transit system for the city and county of San Francisco, California. In 2006, it served with an operating budget of about $700 million...
or by light rail
Muni Metro
Muni Metro is a light rail system serving San Francisco, California, operated by the San Francisco Municipal Railway , a division of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency...
and BART
Bay Area Rapid Transit
Bay Area Rapid Transit is a rapid transit system serving the San Francisco Bay Area. The heavy-rail public transit and subway system connects San Francisco with cities in the East Bay and suburbs in northern San Mateo County. BART operates five lines on of track with 44 stations in four counties...
from the nearby Civic Center/United Nations Plaza station. Those from outside the city may access the clinic from nearby Golden Gate Transit
Golden Gate Transit
Golden Gate Transit is a public transportation system serving the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in California, United States. It mainly serves Marin and Sonoma Counties, and also provides limited service to San Francisco and Contra Costa County.Golden Gate Transit is one of three...
, AC Transit
AC Transit
AC Transit is an Oakland-based regional public transit agency serving the western half of Alameda County and parts of western Contra Costa County in the western, Bay-side area of the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area...
and SamTrans
SamTrans
SamTrans is a public transport agency in and around San Mateo, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It provides bus service throughout San Mateo County and into portions of San Francisco and Palo Alto...
service.
External links
- SF City Clinic official site