Local Doctors Work to Make New ‘Clinic by the Bay’ a Reality
San Francisco, December 5, 2010- Behind the fanfare surrounding the November 9 opening of Clinic By the Bay, San Francisco’s only free clinic for the working poor, are the healthcare providers that made this dream possible.
One player behind the scenes is Dr. Paul Turek, a former professor at The University of California, San Francisco and founder of The Turek Clinic. Turek is a founder, on the board of directors and chairman of the medical advisory board for Clinic By The Bay.
“Dr. Turek has been instrumental in the planning and success of Clinic By The Bay, not just for dedicating his time and resources, but also for recruiting many of his colleagues to get involved in our clinic,” said Janet Reilly, Clinic By The Bay’s president.
The free clinic is based on a national model of clinics called Volunteers in Medicine and relies on the services of retired doctors and other health care providers who volunteer their time to provide patient care. Reilly approached Dr. Turek in 2007 and asked for his help in getting retired health care workers involved. According to Turek, the interest from the large pool of retired healthcare providers in the Bay areas has been very strong. “Maybe its because we offer them the opportunity to practice old fashioned medicine with long patient visits and minimal paperwork” says Turek.
“As a doctor practicing in the heart of San Francisco, it is very important to me to give back to the community where I live and practice,” said Turek. “There is something very special about contributing to the health of the community right in your backyard.
“Clinic By The Bay carries the same “culture of caring” tradition I have tried to bring to my own practice, where each person is treated with kindness, respect and patience in every interaction,” Turek continued.
The recent opening of the clinic was attended by political luminaries Senator Diane Feinstein and Representative Jackie Speier. “I had the pleasure of meeting the chair of Clinic By The Bay’s medical advisory board, Dr. Paul Turek and was inspired by the time and resources he devoted to this clinic,” commented Sen. Diane Feinstein.
About Clinic By The Bay
Clinic by the Bay is San Francisco’s Volunteers in Medicine clinic. The free clinic offers a volunteer-powered local solution to one of the most pressing problems facing our country today: access to affordable health care. Located in San Francisco’s Excelsior district, we are a free clinic serving working uninsured adults (ages 18 and older) residing in our neighborhood and nearby: San Francisco (94112) and Daly City (94014). For more information about Clinic By The Bay, please log onto: http://www.clinicbythebay.org.
About The Turek Clinic
The Turek Clinic, founded in 2008, is a men’s reproductive health practice specializing in male infertility, vasectomy, vasectomy reversal, varicocele repair and other minimally invasive procedures using innovative and cutting-edge techniques.
