Innovative New Clinic Seeks Volunteers, Funds

The “Financial Fitness Clinic” at San Francisco General Hospital

Patients’ economic health has everything to do with their physical health. That’s why the San Francisco General Hospital (SFGH) Pediatric and Family & Community Medicine Departments and the Mission Economic Development Agency created the Financial Fitness Clinic, a medical-financial partnership whose mission is to support and improve the economic and physical health of San Francisco patients and families in financial need. Through individual financial counseling, access to a full array of social services, and personal finance education, the Financial Fitness Clinic provides patients with a resource to address economic determinants of health and the tools to thrive in these tough economic times. Learn more at www.financialfitnessclinic.org.

 

The clinic is currently looking for volunteers from clinical medicine, social work, community development, and financial organizations interested in becoming clinic staff. Contact FinancialFitnessClinicSFGH@gmail.com for more information.

SF General Hospital Becomes First U.S. Hospital Certified for Treatment of Traumatic Brain Injury

San Francisco General Hospital (SFGH) has become the first acute-care medical center in the country to gain certification for the treatment of traumatic brain injury, a recognition that is expected to set the standard for other hospitals around the country.

SFGH, which received national attention for caring for Giants fan Bryan Stow after he was brutally beaten, received the certification after an intensive on-site visit by the Joint Commission, a national independent organization that accredits hospitals and offers disease-specific certifications. The certification for traumatic brain injury was based on the hospital’s medical skills, neuro-monitoring capabilities, imaging technologies and research.

“It is gratifying that our commitment to traumatic brain injury patients from all walks of life has been recognized as meeting the highest national standards,” SFGH CEO Sue Currin said in a statement.

SFGH’s specialists see more than 1,200 patients with traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries and perform nearly 300 neurosurgical operations a year.

In addition to Stow, who was attacked outside Dodger Stadium on March 31, other recent high-profile injuries include Ryan White, a 9-year-old Pennsylvania boy who was struck by a suspected drunken driver after a Giants game in August, and Gaelic football player Mark McGovern, who was knocked unconscious during a game in June.

Please join SFMS in congratulating SFGH and its neurosurgery team—several are SFMS members—on this momentous achievement!

Source: San Francisco Chronicle, October 4, 2011