Free and low cost health care centers in the San Fernando Valley, Santa Clarita, and Antelope Valley
The northern half of Los Angeles County has its own safety net, built around institutions with deep Valley roots. Northeast Valley Health Corporation was incorporated in 1971 by San Fernando Valley civic leaders and opened its first health center in San Fernando in 1973, MEND in Pacoima has run a volunteer-staffed free clinic since 1991, and the county's Olive View-UCLA Medical Center has served the area from Sylmar since 1920. This page covers free and low cost medical clinics across the San Fernando Valle, Burbank and Glendale, the Santa Clarita Valley, and the Antelope Valley communities of Lancaster and Palmdale.
Most of the organizations in this directory are nonprofit community health centers, volunteer clinics, or public health department clinics. The locations will see patients with or without insurance on a sliding fee scale and several locations treat patients at no cost. Distances matter in the north county, so the Antelope Valley and Santa Clarita sections list the providers based in those valleys rather than asking residents to drive over the hills. This is one of four regional guides to LA County; the others cover Central and South Los Angeles, the San Gabriel Valley and southeast county, and the Westside, South Bay, and Long Beach.
County hospitals and health centers run by LA County
The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services anchors the north county with Olive View-UCLA Medical Center in Sylmar, a public teaching hospital whose outpatient clinics provide primary, specialty, and surgical care to the San Fernando, Santa Clarita, and Antelope valleys. Mid-Valley Comprehensive Health Center on Van Nuys Boulevard in Van Nuys offers a broad range of outpatient care in the center of the Valley. County financial screening programs reduce or eliminate costs for low income and uninsured patients, and the county states that it does not report patients to immigration authorities; details and locations are at https://dhs.lacounty.gov/.
In the Antelope Valley, the county's High Desert Regional Health Center on East Avenue I in Lancaster opened in 2014 as the area's main public outpatient campus, with primary care, many specialties, and urgent care. The county also operates smaller health centers in the region, including sites in San Fernando, Palmdale, and Littlerock, though days and hours at the smaller clinics vary widely, so confirm before going.
County public health clinics and help lines
Public health centers often focus on immunizations, STD and HIV testing and treatment, and tuberculosis services. In this region, the Glendale Health Center currently carries public health clinic services, and the Pacoima Health Center generally offers sexual health screening; check http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/ or call before visiting, since locations continue to shift.
Two countywide phone lines cover the north county as well. The 24/7 help line for mental health and substance use services from the county Department of Mental Health is (800) 854-7771, with crisis support, screenings, and referrals in many languages. Dialing 2-1-1 or visiting 211la.org connects residents anywhere in the county, including the Antelope Valley, to health, housing, food, and utility assistance programs.
San Fernando Valley community health centers
Northeast Valley Health Corporation (NEVHC) — appointments at (818) 270-9777 for the San Fernando Valley, (661) 705-2040 for the Santa Clarita Valley, https://nevhc.org/. NEVHC grew from its first San Fernando health center, dedicated in 1973 with Senator Ted Kennedy in attendance, into one of the region's largest community health center networks, with locations in San Fernando, Pacoima, Sylmar, Sun Valley, Van Nuys, Canoga Park, and the Santa Clarita Valley.
Care includes adult medicine, pediatrics, women's health and prenatal care, dental, behavioral health, and WIC nutrition services, with fees based on income for the uninsured. The organization also runs school-based health centers and a mobile team serving people experiencing homelessness. Hours vary by site, so confirm when booking.
Valley Community Healthcare — (818) 763-8836. Serving the Valley since 1970, this nonprofit runs full-service health centers in North Hollywood on Coldwater Canyon Avenue and in North Hills on Haskell Avenue, plus school-based care. Patients of all ages receive primary care, dental, optometry, behavioral health counseling, a teen clinic, and treatment for chronic conditions and infectious diseases including HIV and hepatitis C, regardless of ability to pay, and enrollment specialists help with insurance applications.
MEND (Meet Each Need with Dignity) — (818) 686-7300, https://mendpoverty.org/. MEND has served Pacoima since 1971, and its volunteer doctors, dentists, and optometrists have run free medical and dental clinics at its San Fernando Road center since 1991, adding a vision clinic in 2001 that provides free eye screenings and glasses. The clinics serve poor, uninsured, and medically underserved families, and the same campus offers food, clothing, and job training help, making it a practical first stop for a household with several needs at once.
El Proyecto del Barrio — Winnetka center at (818) 883-2273, https://www.elproyecto.us/. This nonprofit serves the east and west Valley with health centers in Winnetka on Sherman Way, Arleta on Woodman Avenue, Panorama City, and Northridge, treating all patients regardless of ability to pay. Services include family medicine, women's health and mammograms, pediatrics, behavioral health and substance use counseling, and dental clinics at the Winnetka and Arleta locations, with staff who help patients enroll in Medi-Cal and other coverage.
Mission City Community Network — (818) 895-3100, https://mccn.org/. Based in the northeast Valley, this federally qualified health center network provides medical, dental, and mental health care on an open-access basis, regardless of income, immigration status, or ability to pay. Its clinics cluster in Mission Hills, North Hills, Panorama City, and Pacoima, with additional locations in other parts of the county and region, and an after-hours line for existing patients.
Tarzana Treatment Centers — family medical care at (818) 654-3887, https://www.tarzanatc.org/. Since 1972, Tarzana Treatment Centers has combined primary medical care with behavioral health under one roof, which suits patients who need a doctor along with mental health or substance use treatment. Its clinics in Tarzana, Reseda, Northridge, and Woodland Hills take walk-in patients, offer low cost family medicine and free immunizations, and accept Medi-Cal, Medicare, and most insurance; the organization also serves Lancaster and Palmdale, covered below.
Eisner Health also operates Valley clinics in Panorama City, Sherman Oaks, and Van Nuys, extending the downtown organization profiled on the Central and South Los Angeles page; care is open to all regardless of income, insurance, or immigration status, with the Sherman Oaks center reachable at (818) 647-7973. Planned Parenthood Los Angeles likewise runs Valley health centers in Burbank, Canoga Park, and Van Nuys, plus a Palmdale center for the Antelope Valley, offering birth control, STD testing and treatment, and other reproductive health care on a sliding scale at (800) 576-5544.
Glendale and Burbank clinics
All For Health, Health For All — (818) 409-3020, https://all4health.org/. This federally qualified health center began in 1990 as the Broadway Family Medical Center and now runs several general practice clinics in Glendale plus locations in Burbank on Glenoaks Boulevard and in Sunland, along with a mental health office. It serves Glendale's multi-ethnic communities, including Armenian and Russian speakers, and access is assured for all patients regardless of ability to pay.
Comprehensive Community Health Centers (CCHC) — Glendale at (818) 265-2264, North Hollywood at (818) 755-8000, cchccenters.org. CCHC's health centers in Glendale, North Hollywood, Sunland, Arleta, Eagle Rock, and Highland Park provide medical, dental, optometry, behavioral health, podiatry, and infectious disease care, with a mobile clinic extending its reach. The organization accepts Medi-Cal, Medicare, and Covered California plans and offers a sliding fee scale for the uninsured, with evening hours at some sites.
Glendale Community Free Health Clinic — (626) 838-3335. This all-volunteer free clinic, operating inside the First United Methodist Church building on North Kenwood Street since 2004, focuses narrowly on adults who are low income and uninsured and who need ongoing medication management for chronic conditions such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, and thyroid disease. It generally sees patients by appointment on the first and third Tuesday afternoons of the month and does not provide exams, lab work, or testing, so call and leave a message to check eligibility before going.
Santa Clarita Valley clinics
Samuel Dixon Family Health Center — (661) 291-1777, https://sdfhc.org/. Founded by Reverend Samuel Dixon in the small community of Val Verde more than two decades ago, this nonprofit now serves the whole Santa Clarita Valley with health centers in Val Verde, Newhall, and Canyon Country. Patients of all ages receive family medicine, immunizations, women's health, and behavioral health counseling, with evening hours on some weekdays and no geographic restrictions.
NEVHC, listed above, also operates several Santa Clarita Valley locations, including health centers in Newhall, Santa Clarita, and Valencia, reachable through its Santa Clarita appointment line at (661) 705-2040. Tarzana Treatment Centers serves Santa Clarita residents as well through its Valley and north county clinics.
Antelope Valley clinics
Bartz-Altadonna Community Health Center — (661) 874-4050, https://bartz-altadonna-chc.org/. The Antelope Valley's first federally qualified health center began as a clinic focused on HIV and AIDS care and has grown into a full primary care organization with locations in Lancaster, Palmdale, and Boron. Residents of the Antelope Valley and eastern Kern County receive care at low or no cost, including pediatrics, women's health, psychiatry and behavioral health, substance use treatment, and help enrolling in Medi-Cal, Covered California, and other programs.
The county's High Desert Regional Health Center in Lancaster, described in the county section above, is the area's largest public clinic campus. Tarzana Treatment Centers also runs Antelope Valley locations in Lancaster and Palmdale that combine family medical care with mental health and substance use treatment, reachable at (818) 654-3887, and Planned Parenthood's Palmdale health center covers reproductive care.
Low cost dental in the Valley and north county
Kids' Community Dental Clinic in Burbank, at (818) 841-8010 or https://www.kidsclinic.org/, is one of the region's most useful children's resources: volunteer dentists provide free or low cost checkups, cleanings, x-rays, fluoride, sealants, and fillings for children from infancy through age 18 in low income families, including those without insurance, and the clinic accepts Medi-Cal dental coverage. It opened in 2002 to replace a hospital children's dental clinic that had closed, and its teams also visit area schools for free screenings and fluoride treatments.
For adults and families, MEND's volunteer dental clinic in Pacoima handles cleanings, fillings, extractions, sealants, and some oral surgery at little to no cost, and NEVHC runs a dedicated dental appointment line at (818) 270-9555 for its Valley and Santa Clarita dental clinics. El Proyecto del Barrio offers dental at its Winnetka and Arleta centers, and Valley Community Healthcare, CCHC, Mission City, and Eisner all include sliding scale dental within their health centers, which is often the quickest route to affordable care close to home.
Help paying for care
California's Medi-Cal program has covered income-eligible adults regardless of immigration status since 2024, ending the need for older county programs like My Health LA, and most clinics on this page have staff who help with applications. The guide to health care options for the uninsured in California explains insurance programs such as Medi-Cal, Covered California, and other options in detail. Any federally funded health center can also be found by address at https://findahealthcenter.hrsa.gov/.
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