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California free and sliding fee health clinics by county and region

Community clinics have a long history in California. Networks such as La Clinica de La Raza in Oakland and Innercare in the Imperial Valley opened in the early 1970s to treat farmworker families who had no other way to see a doctor, and hundreds of nonprofit health centers now operate in every part of the state. The health care centers treat patients with or without insurance, charge based on income, and care does not depend on immigration status. California is so large that the biggest counties each have their own local page on this site, linked in the next section, while the rest of this page lists verified clinics for every other region, with phone numbers, websites, and notes on who qualifies.

Health coverage matters alongside the clinics. Medi-Cal is free for most people who qualify and the last section of this page explains how to check what you can get. Anyone whose main problem is dental can start instead with the directory of California free and low cost dental clinics

Local pages for Southern California

Every page in this section is part of this site and was verified the same way as this one. Los Angeles County is too big for a single listing, so it is split four ways. Free clinics in central and south Los Angeles covers the city core, from downtown through South LA. North of the hills, start with community clinics in the San Fernando Valley and north county. Pasadena, El Monte, and the eastern suburbs fall under clinics in the San Gabriel Valley and southeast county. The coast has its own listing of clinics on the Westside, South Bay and Long Beach. The rest of the region breaks down by county.

• Anaheim, Santa Ana, and the communities between them appear on community clinics in Orange County.
   
•  Inland Empire readers have two pages, starting with free clinics in Riverside County for the Riverside and Coachella Valley side.
   
• The high desert and the rest of that metro sit on community clinics in San Bernardino County.
   
• From Oceanside down to the border, use free and sliding fee clinics in San Diego County.
   
• Farther up the coast, clinics in Santa Barbara County takes in Santa Maria and Lompoc along with the city itself.
   
• Oxnard and Camarillo readers can go straight to community clinics in Ventura County.

 

 

Local pages for the Bay Area, Sacramento, and Fresno

• San Francisco stands on its own at free clinics in San Francisco.
   
• Just south, the Peninsula from Daly City through Redwood City is on community clinics in San Mateo County.
   
• San Jose and the South Bay are handled by clinics in Santa Clara County.
   
• Richmond, Concord, and Antioch fall under free and low cost clinics in Contra Costa County.
   
• North of the Golden Gate, community clinics in Sonoma County lists the Santa Rosa area.
   
• The capital region has its own page at free clinics in Sacramento County.
   
• In the middle of the state, clinics in Fresno County covers the San Joaquin Valley's biggest city.

Everywhere else in California, keep reading. The next sections list the clinics themselves, region by region. In addition, the federal government lists every community health center site in the state at https://findahealthcenter.hrsa.gov, and more volunteer free clinics appear in the national directory at https://nafcclinics.org.

The East Bay (Oakland, Berkeley, Hayward, Fremont)

La Clinica de La Raza started as a storefront clinic in Oakland in 1971 and now runs about thirty health centers across Alameda, Contra Costa, and Solano counties. Call (510) 535-4000, or call the coverage help line at 1-855-494-4658 for help applying for Medi-Cal, and find each site at https://laclinica.org. Care is provided in English and Spanish, fees follow a sliding scale, and services range from family medicine and pediatrics to dental, vision, and mental health care.

LifeLong Medical Care serves Berkeley, Oakland, Richmond, and other East Bay communities with medical, dental, and behavioral health care for all ages and incomes. Call (510) 981-4100 or visit https://lifelongmedical.org. LifeLong also runs street medicine teams and clinics inside supportive housing, so it is a strong option for people who are homeless or living with disabilities.

 

 

 

Tiburcio Vasquez Health Center covers southern Alameda County, with clinics in Hayward, Union City, and San Leandro. Call (510) 471-5907 or visit https://tvhc.org. The center has served the area since 1971 with medical, dental, vision, and mental health care, WIC nutrition services, and free help signing up for coverage. Older directories list its Union City clinic as a separate organization, but it is the same center.

The Berkeley Free Clinic has provided free care from volunteers since 1969 and now operates on University Avenue with mostly evening and weekend hours. Call (510) 548-2570, and check https://www.berkeleyfreeclinic.org before going, because services run on limited schedules and some are walk-in only.

The North Bay (Marin, Napa, Fairfield, Woodland)

Marin Community Clinics is the health center network for Marin County, with medical, dental, and pharmacy services in Novato, San Rafael, and Larkspur. Call (415) 448-1500 or visit https://www.marinclinic.org. The clinics state plainly that patients do not need insurance or United States citizenship to be seen, and Thursday food giveaways run at some sites.

CommuniCare+OLE was formed when OLE Health of Napa and Solano counties joined CommuniCare Health Centers of Yolo County, and it now runs about seventeen health centers across the three counties. Call (707) 254-1770 in the Napa area or (530) 758-2060 in Davis and Woodland, and find every clinic at https://communicareole.org. No one is turned away over lack of insurance, immigration status, or ability to pay, and services include medical, dental, behavioral health, and substance use treatment.

The Sacramento Valley and the North State (Yuba City, Chico, Redding, Eureka)

Ampla Health grew out of a farmworker health project in 1964 and now runs medical and dental centers across Butte, Colusa, Glenn, Sutter, Tehama, and Yuba counties, including Yuba City, Chico, Oroville, and Gridley. Call (530) 673-9420 for the Yuba City center or find each location at https://www.amplahealth.org. Migrant and seasonal farmworkers remain a focus, and no one is refused care over income or insurance.

Shasta Community Health Center anchors the far northern safety net from Redding, with a walk-in urgent care and clinics in Anderson and Shasta Lake. Call (530) 246-5710, or look the center up in the federal locator listed near the end of this page. Charity care and financial help are available, and no one is turned away over inability to pay.

Open Door Community Health Centers covers the North Coast, with clinics in Arcata, Eureka, Fortuna, Crescent City, and other Humboldt and Del Norte county towns. Call (707) 825-4286 for member services or find each clinic at https://opendoorhealth.com. Several tribal health programs also operate in the far north, and some may treat community members who are not tribal citizens in their remote service areas, while others serve tribal members only, so call the individual program first.

 

 

The San Joaquin Valley (Stockton, Modesto, Merced, Madera)

Community Medical Centers is the health center system for San Joaquin, Solano, and Yolo counties, with clinics in Stockton, Lodi, Tracy, and Vacaville. Call (209) 373-2800 or find each site at https://www.communitymedicalcenters.org. The organization treats the working poor, farmworkers, and the uninsured with medical, dental, vision, and mental health care priced by income.

Golden Valley Health Centers is one of the largest community health center systems in the state, with dozens of clinics across Merced and Stanislaus counties in cities such as Merced, Modesto, Los Banos, Patterson, and Ceres. Call toll free (866) 682-4842 or visit https://www.gvhc.org \. Doctors are on call around the clock, care is offered in Spanish, and uninsured patients can bring proof of income to be placed on the sliding fee program.

Camarena Health serves Madera County from health centers in Madera, Chowchilla, and Oakhurst. Call (559) 664-4000 or visit https://www.camarenahealth.org. Walk-ins are welcome, enrollment specialists help patients find coverage, and a sliding fee discount program covers people without insurance. The organization appears in older listings under its former name, Darin M. Camarena Health Centers.

The south valley (Visalia, Hanford, Porterville, Bakersfield)

Family HealthCare Network is the third largest health center organization in California, with about forty sites across Tulare, Kings, and Fresno counties, including Visalia, Tulare, Porterville, and Hanford. Call (877) 960-3426 or visit https://www.fhcn.org. Services run from primary care and dentistry to optometry and pharmacy, several sites keep evening and weekend hours, and transportation help is available.

Clinica Sierra Vista covers Kern and Fresno counties with a large network of community health centers in Bakersfield, Delano, Lamont, Lake Isabella, and the mountain communities. Find each health center and its direct phone number at https://clinicasierravista.org. The organization is a certified Covered California enrollment entity, so staff can help uninsured patients sign up for coverage at no charge while they receive sliding fee care.

The Central Coast (Salinas, Watsonville, San Luis Obispo)

Clinica de Salud del Valle de Salinas runs more than a dozen clinics across Monterey County, from Pajaro to King City, with an emphasis on farmworker families. Call (831) 757-8689 or visit https://csvs.org. The organization is one of the county's few providers for people who are medically indigent or homeless, and a mobile clinic visits shelters and encampments.

 

 

Salud Para La Gente serves the Watsonville and Santa Cruz area with medical, dental, and behavioral health care, including weekend hours at its main Watsonville clinic. Call (831) 728-0222, or find each clinic in the federal locator at the end of this page. Medi-Cal and Medicare are accepted, and uninsured patients pay on a sliding scale.

Community Health Centers of the Central Coast operates about two dozen clinics across San Luis Obispo County and northern Santa Barbara County, in towns such as San Luis Obispo, Paso Robles, Morro Bay, Nipomo, and Guadalupe. Call (805) 929-3211 or visit https://www.communityhealthcenters.org. The network runs a health care for the homeless program with mobile medical and dental vans, and no one is refused care over income.

The SLO Noor Foundation is the region's volunteer free clinic, providing free medical, dental, and vision care to uninsured adults in San Luis Obispo. Call (805) 439-1797, with details at https://slonoorfoundation.org. Care is by appointment and demand is high, so expect a screening process and possible waits.

The Imperial Valley and the desert (El Centro, Brawley, Coachella)

Innercare was the first federally funded migrant health center in the nation when it opened in 1970, and it now runs ten medical clinics plus dental offices across Imperial County and eastern Riverside County, in El Centro, Brawley, Calexico, Coachella, Mecca, and Blythe. Call (855) 436-1234 or visit https://innercare.org. The organization operated for decades as Clinicas de Salud del Pueblo, so older directories still show that name. Sliding fee care covers the uninsured, and WIC nutrition offices operate alongside several clinics.

County health departments and public health clinics

Every California county runs a public health department, and depending on the county these offices may offer immunizations, family planning, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, TB testing, and WIC at low or no cost. The state keeps a directory of every local health department at https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Pages/LocalHealthServicesAndOffices.aspx. The largest counties also run full public hospital and clinic systems, which appear on the county pages linked earlier.

Mental health care and crisis help

Anyone in crisis can call or text 988 at any hour from anywhere in California. Every county also runs its own behavioral health department with an access line for Medi-Cal mental health and substance use treatment, and the county health department directory in the previous section can point you to yours. Most of the health center networks on this page provide counseling and psychiatric care on the same sliding fee terms as medical visits.

 

 

Getting covered while you get care

Medi-Cal is free for most people who qualify, and children can enroll regardless of immigration status. The fastest way to learn what you qualify for is to apply at https://benefitscal.com or to sit down with an enrollment counselor at any health center on this page. You can also call Covered California at (800) 300-1506 to check both Medi-Cal and marketplace options in one call. Emergency and pregnancy care remain covered under restricted Medi-Cal no matter a person's status. More state programs appear on the NHPB page about assistance programs for the uninsured in California.

 

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