St Jeanne De Lestonnac Free Clinic

Lestonnac Free Clinic's mission is to provide free health care services to low-income and uninsured residents in Southern California, through the support of generous volunteers and donors.

Lestonnac Free Clinic was founded in 1979 by Sister Marie Therese Solomon who dedicated her life to promoting health and wellness among the community's poor. As one of the few remaining free clinics in the state, Lestonnac Free Clinic provides free health care services to low-income and uninsured residents in Southern California. Through the dedication of hundreds of volunteers, Lestonnac Free Clinic has transformed its modest office in Orange into a full primary and specialty care medical facility that also offers dental and vision services. Over the past eight years Lestonnac Free Clinic has expanded its service area and opened satellite locations in Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino counties and procured a mobile medical unit that serves Riverside County. In an effort to increase its outreach and improve access in underserved communities, Lestonnac Free Clinic also facilitates ten annual medical and dental health fairs in Orange and San Bernardino counties.

Lestonnac Free Clinic's accomplishments in 2023 include:
Providing 11,156 patients with access to free medical, dental, vision, and mental health care through 32,715 visits.
Expanded our Mobile Vision Clinic which provides free vision exams and prescription glasses in a matter of minutes. This clinic travels to health fairs and multiple clinic sites throughout Southern California. In 2023, 3,204 patients were provided with vision exams and 4,061 pairs of glasses were dispensed.
Expanded our Street Medicine Program in collaboration with Wound Walk OC. This program provides wound care and other basic medical care to unhoused individuals in their home locations.
Specialty Care Telemedicine Program provides services to patients living in more remote locations at their home clinic. Expands the reach of specialty care services to limit long travel times for patients.
Expanded our mobile Health Fair program like never before heading 44 health fairs in 2023 and providing a total of 2,087 visits. This includes 832 medical visits, 395 dental visits, 1,483 vision exams and 1,687 glasses distributed on the spot.
Officially launched our mobile mammogram partnership with Pink Journey. In 2023 142 mammograms were provided, free of charge.

Lestonnac Free Clinic helps create a better future and a healthier world for those who are uninsured, living in poverty and without health care. We bridge a critical gap by providing free medical, specialty, vision, and dental care through volunteer medical providers. Lestonnac has been serving residents of Orange County since 1979 and has evolved into a comprehensive system of care providing an array of medical, dental, vision and mental health services in four counties. Lestonnac continues its original mission to serve uninsured, low-income individuals without regard to race, ethnicity, gender, or documentation status. Lestonnac has expanded to include the provision of critical specialty medical services, eye examinations and free prescription eyeglasses, and preventative health screenings, many of which are not available at other clinics. Our mission is to ensure that no one is forced to forego medical care due to cost and services are provided free of charge.
Despite the Affordable Care Act, most of the nonelderly in the U.S. obtain health insurance through an employer, but not all workers are offered employer-sponsored coverage or, if offered, can afford their share of the premiums. Cost still poses a major barrier to coverage for people who are uninsured. In 2022, 64.2% of uninsured nonelderly adults said they were uninsured because coverage is not affordable, and not being eligible for coverage (28.4%). Health insurance makes a difference in whether and when people get necessary medical care, where they get their care, and ultimately, how healthy they are. While the COVID-19 pandemic affected health care utilization broadly, uninsured adults are far more likely than those with insurance to postpone health care or forgo it altogether because of concerns over costs. The consequences can be severe, particularly when preventable conditions or chronic diseases go undetected.
The correlation between poverty and poor health has been well documented. “Studies repeatedly demonstrate that uninsured individuals are less likely than those with insurance to receive preventive care and services for major health conditions and chronic diseases. Many uninsured people do not obtain the treatments their health care providers recommend for them because of the cost of care. In 2022, nearly half (47.4%) of nonelderly uninsured adults reported not seeing a doctor or health care professional in the past 12 months compared to 16.6% with private insurance and 14.0% with public coverage. (Key Facts about the Uninsured Population, published by Kaiser Health News, December 2023) Lestonnac works to address the systemic lack of resources for uninsured individuals to access health care services. Even individuals who are insured often have high deductible plans and are unable to afford co-payments for specialty services and diagnostic testing. Most will forego health care until reaching a crisis point and then seeking care in a hospital emergency room.

Lestonnac Free Clinic provides free health care services to low income, uninsured, underinsured and homeless in Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

Lestonnac Free Clinic is acutely aware of the correlation between poverty, lack of insurance and poor health outcomes. As a strategic priority and organizational goal, Lestonnac Free Clinic remains committed to providing disadvantaged and underserved populations Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside counties with medical, dental and vision services and access to health education classes free of charge.