The UCLA Mobile Clinic: A History of Service and Care

The UCLA Mobile Clinic stands as a testament to the university's commitment to serving the underserved populations of Los Angeles County. From its origins in addressing the healthcare needs of the homeless to its expansion into various community health initiatives, the Mobile Clinic has consistently provided crucial services to those who need them most. This article explores the history, services, and impact of the UCLA Mobile Clinic, highlighting its vital role in the community.

Origins and Early Development

The seeds of the UCLA Mobile Clinic were sown in 2000 when leaders of the Greater West Hollywood Food Coalition (GWHFC) approached a group from the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health (FSPH), led by Dr. Michael Prelip. The GWHFC, like the Hollywood Food Coalition (HoFoCo), had been serving free dinners to those experiencing food insecurity. Two Fielding students conducted a needs assessment at the HoFoCo site and reported a multitude of health needs and barriers to healthcare access among their clients experiencing homelessness. The Mobile Clinic Project at UCLA was born as a joint volunteer effort among public health, medical, law, and undergraduate students to provide health and social services, as well as referrals, to the Hollywood-area unhoused population during weekly visits.

The project began with a simple aim: to meet with three or four of Los Angeles’ homeless residents to offer basic medical services, free of charge. This initial outreach quickly demonstrated the profound need for accessible healthcare among this vulnerable population. It’s not every day that a college student becomes friends with a homeless man. But after spending hours with him over many visits, Bartlett formed a connection with his first client. “At the end we were trying to convince him to go to a program that could help him. “A lot of them are just looking for someone to talk to.

Evolution and Expansion of Services

Over the years, the Mobile Clinic Project has evolved and expanded its services to meet the diverse needs of the community. Today, the Mobile Clinic operates every Wednesday and Saturday in three locations in Los Angeles County.

West Hollywood Clinic: This clinic operates out of a truck that has all of the necessary medical equipment and sets up chairs outside. It provides dental services and recently applied for grants to provide eye glasses. The Logistics Committee works within the Mobile Clinic truck: the heart of our West Hollywood clinic. Logistics members are responsible for stocking and distributing the essential medications, clinical supplies, and hygiene items that our clients rely on each and every week. In doing so, every committee member is responsible for directly advocating for our clients, being granted the responsibility of delegating resources in a fair and just manner. Members also spearhead outreach events to local community organizations for clothing or hygiene donations and meet regularly to assemble hygiene kits, ultimately expanding the variety of items we can offer to our clients. Priding itself on organization, efficiency, and innovation, this laborious committee works to meet the diverse needs of clinic while providing the most exceptional service possible.

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Step Up on Second (Santa Monica): This mental health clinic functions as a free health clinic every second and fourth Saturday.
Ocean Park Community Center: This location serves as a free health clinic every first and third Saturday.

The clinics average 30 clients a night.

In addition to direct medical care, the Mobile Clinic offers a range of essential services:

Referrals: The Referrals Committee connects clients to essential health and social services that are unavailable at our street clinics. Referrals members consult clients directly to understand their needs and struggles accessing resources. Its members assess client needs and refer them to the most suitable site, providing all essential information relevant to each individual client. This committee constantly updates their database by maintaining communication with external community organizations through interacting directly with sites, exploring new services, and refining those already at their disposal. Referrals Committee members gain an incredibly holistic understanding of the resources available to those experiencing homelessness and the structure of social services in Los Angeles.

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Health Education: The Health Education Committee upholds that knowledge is power when it comes to health literacy. This committee provides our client base with digestible and pertinent health educational materials through contributions to an on-site health education database. Health Education members are typically the first point of contact for our clients and ensure that clients feel comfortable navigating the clinic space. Through health literacy projects surrounding topics such as harm reduction, members gain valuable experience with client-centered service and an intimate understanding of the health issues most prevalent within the unhoused community. Health Education also collaborates with the UCLA Blood and Platelet Center, hosting blood drives that give back to both the Mobile Clinic client base and the larger Los Angeles community. This committee cultivates strong communication skills, holistic thinking, and opportunities for collaboration.
Advocacy: The Advocacy committee extends Mobile Clinic’s mission beyond the clinic space. Advocacy members emphasize civic engagement on campus and the broader Los Angeles area by conducting historian interviews and sharing client narratives to increase awareness of the organization’s efforts and client experiences. Advocacy Committee members are tasked with spearheading outreach and awareness events such as We're All Neighbors, local legislative campaigns, and publicizing client interviews through MCP’s social media outlets. Advocacy members gain a deep understanding of clients’ experiences, legislative efforts affecting the unhoused population, and actively engage in social change. Innovative, passionate, and broad-thinking achievers lie at the heart of the Advocacy Committee.
Database Management: The Database Committee proves integral to productive caseworker-client dialogue by accurately chronicling the social history records of clients. Database committee members have the privilege of reading client stories and assessing triggers and risk factors, ensuring that caseworkers provide well-informed and compassionate care. They collect, input, and analyze client data to produce reports that supplement grant applications and improve clinic operations. Members develop a comprehensive understanding of how to properly handle sensitive data-and in turn, a deep respect for client experiences and confidentiality. This vital committee attracts detail oriented, organized, and conscientious individuals who are eager to learn about how social determinants can dramatically impact health outcomes.
Grant Writing: The Grant Writing Committee makes our clinic operations possible by securing major funding. Members apply for intramural grants that fund MCP truck upkeep, medications, medical supplies, and basic needs resources. As they detail the numerous MCP functions in grants, committee members develop extensive knowledge on the overall operations of the organization as well as on how to fund a nonprofit organization through grant writing. Moreover, Grant Writing Committee members work to expand the financial resources of MCP through spearheading extramural donation projects and fundraising campaigns. On site, committee members work at the triage table, and are able to pass out the very items they secured funding for.

Addressing Systemic Issues

The UCLA Mobile Clinic operates within a broader context of healthcare disparities and social inequities. The clinic's work is particularly relevant given the challenges faced by vulnerable populations in accessing healthcare. In 1987, the first of a series of reports by an FSPH research team led by Drs. E. Richard Brown and Robert O. Valdez found that 22% of California’s under-65 population lacked health insurance. The group followed those findings with studies breaking down who was uninsured, how it affected their health, and what it cost the healthcare system.

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The Mobile Clinic's efforts align with broader initiatives to improve public health and address social determinants of health. For example, in 1988, California voters passed Proposition 99, which, among other things, imposed a 25-cent-per-pack tax on the sale of cigarettes, with revenue going toward environmental and healthcare programs as well as anti-tobacco ads. A number of the school’s faculty helped to determine the allocation of funds from the tax to schools, community health agencies, researchers, local health departments, and the media for tobacco control initiatives.

Impact and Community Engagement

The Mobile Clinic has had a significant impact on the lives of countless individuals experiencing homelessness and poverty in Los Angeles County. By providing accessible healthcare, referrals to essential services, and health education, the clinic empowers individuals to take control of their health and well-being.

The clinic's success is rooted in its commitment to community engagement and collaboration. The partnership with the Hollywood Food Coalition (HoFoCo) is a prime example of this approach. Since 1987, the Hollywood Food Coalition (HoFoCo) has served free dinners to those experiencing food insecurity every night of the week. In 2000, Hollywood Food Coalition and UCLA partnered to launch The Mobile Clinic Project at UCLA, with the goal of providing medical services to HoFoCo dinner guests during meal service. By meeting people where they are, our Community Dinner guests are able to access medical services they likely wouldn’t receive otherwise. The medical team fosters ongoing relationships with our guests, providing essential medical care that results in better health outcomes for those we serve.

Student Leadership and Innovation

The UCLA Mobile Clinic is driven by the passion and dedication of student volunteers from across the university. These students gain invaluable experience in healthcare delivery, community engagement, and social justice advocacy.

One example of student-led innovation is the work of Elhaija, a UCLA student who formed the International Collegiate Health Initiative with the goal to provide medical care to refugees in countries like Syria and Palestine. However, finances and logistics made it more productive for Elhaija to focus his efforts on refugee and low-income communities closer to home. The initiative is managed by a team of 20 students, a board of directors and professional advisers who offer guidance and medical services for the clinics. Given the need for this kind of service, Elhaija applied for the annual Donald A. Strauss Foundation scholarship to help implement his vision. Elhaija was the only UCLA student to win the $15,000 scholarship in 2019. As part of the scholarship, Elhaija was assigned a mentor to advise him on his project. Elhaija’s mentor, Marc Anthony Branch, is a program officer for sustainable development for the United Methodist Committee on Relief and an expert in grant writing. “I set him up with my grant-writing team, and he was really pivotal in actually getting us moving forward,” Elhaija said. “Before him, we didn’t really have much progress in grant writing, so having him on board and him giving his expertise was really cool.

Additional Services and Support

Beyond medical care, the UCLA Mobile Clinic recognizes the importance of addressing the holistic needs of its clients. The clinic provides a range of additional services and support, including:

Basic Needs: People experiencing homelessness and general poverty often need basic items just to survive each day. These items are hard to keep for long periods of time and also difficult to keep clean, making frequent replacement necessary. During our nightly Dinner service, we often provide a variety of essential items. For most of these items, we rely on generous donations from our partners and volunteers. New, unused blankets, tents and sleeping bags are welcome. We’re grateful for your interest in donating clothes! While continuing to distribute clothing and wellness items through our Community Wellness program, we’re no longer able to accept clothing donations directly. Due to limited capacity, we are not equipped to sort and organize donated items ourselves. Instead, we encourage you to support our trusted clothing distribution partner, Project Ropa, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit that specializes in getting quality clothing to those who need it most, including our guests! You can find more information here. Directing donations this way helps us focus on providing nourishing meals and wraparound services, while ensuring your items still reach our guests through the most efficient channels.
Pet Needs: Many people rely on their pets for companionship and support. Upon request and availability, we distribute dog and cat food, leashes, and collars to our dinner guests for their pets.
Mental Health Services: DMH FSP on site on Wednesday, supplying mental health resources.
Additional Basic Services Provided: Housing navigation, Legal navigation, Employment support, Laundry vouchers, ID/License replacement, Utility bills reduction assistance, Hygiene and clothing items distribution.

UCLA's Broader Commitment to Public Health

The UCLA Mobile Clinic is just one example of the university's broader commitment to public health and community engagement. The UCLA Fielding School of Public Health (FSPH) has a long history of addressing critical public health challenges, both locally and globally.

The school’s Office of Public Health Practice was established in 1992. In 1995, the school launched two executive-style MPH programs designed to provide public health training for working health professionals, who attend classes on weekends.
In Southeast Asia, India, China, and elsewhere, many of the most prominent leaders in the fight against HIV/AIDS from the 1990s onward held public health degrees from UCLA. The UCLA/ Fogarty International Training Program in Epidemiology Related to HIV/AIDS, initiated by Dr.
In 2001, the school’s student-led organization Students of Color for Public Health has been dedicated to strengthening the social support, career networking, and advocacy efforts of the school’s students.
Dr. Margaret Martin (MPH ’93, DrPH ’98) launched the Harmony Project, an after-school program providing music lessons and mentoring in low-income elementary schools, in 2001. More than 20 years later, the program has approximately 3,500 active participants in 16 community hubs.
As director of California’s Scientific Review Panel on Toxic Air Contaminants in 1998, FSPH’s Dr. John Froines helped set the stage for California’s leadership in regulating and reducing the health risks associated with exposure to diesel exhaust, which the panel identified as a carcinogenic air contaminant.
Dr. Linda Rosenstock was appointed dean of the school in 2000 and served until 2012. A recognized authority in occupational and environmental health as well as global public health and science policy, Rosenstock served for nearly seven years as director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, where her efforts earned her the Presidential Distinguished Executive Rank Award, the highest executive service award in the federal government.

A Cleaner Environment for Better Health

UCLA's commitment to public health extends to environmental issues as well. Fifty years ago, Los Angeles was known as one of the world’s smoggiest cities. Today, the air is considerably cleaner - despite significant increases in population, energy consumption, and vehicle miles traveled. Environmental Protection Agency; the South Coast Air Quality Management District, which regulates stationary pollution sources in Southern California; and the California Air Resources Board, which regulates pollution from mobile sources. Many of the key policies of these regulators have been informed by UCLA Fielding faculty research, and many of the leaders of these agencies have been FSPH alums. The cleaner air in Los Angeles is more than just aesthetically pleasing; it’s healthier. Poor ambient air quality is a leading cause of childhood asthma, reduced lung function, cardiovascular disease, poor birth outcomes, and premature death.

The UCLA Mobile Eye Clinic

Established in 1975 by an anonymous donor, the UCLA Mobile Eye Clinic is a community outreach program of the UCLA Stein Eye Institute. Stein Eye has the longest continuously operating eye clinic on wheels in the USA. For more than 40 years, UMEC has been supporting patient care and screening programs in neighborhoods where poverty and vision disabilities intersect.

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