Fund Spotlight: St. Luke's Family Practice
As health insurance premiums continue to climb, many people are finding themselves priced out of basic healthcare – relying on emergency rooms and urgent care clinics as their primary source for healthcare. With the Affordable Care Act subsidies expected to expire in the new year, nonprofits providing low-cost and free medical services have become even more essential. Among them is one of Stanislaus County’s most innovative and compassionate healthcare providers, St. Luke’s Family Practice.
Founded in 2004 by Dr. Robert Forester and Dr. Richard Heck, St. Luke’s pioneered a first in the nation model designed to restore personal, relationship-based family medicine while ensuring that anyone, regardless of income or insurance status, can receive high quality care. Ericka Carranza-Perez, Physician Assistant and Office Manager at St. Luke’s, shares, “Our founders were guided by values rooted in a long tradition of caring for the vulnerable and envisioned a self-sustaining model where paying members help support free care for those who need it most.”
So, how exactly does this model work? Member Patients pay an annual fee that grants them direct access to their personal physician at any time. Those fees are then used to deliver free medical care to underserved individuals who might not qualify for government programs and don’t currently have insurance. While the practice primarily serves patients who live in Stanislaus County, care is available to those who need it – regardless of their address.
The organization also invests in the next generation of healthcare providers by serving as a teaching site for Family Medicine residents, Nurse Practitioner and Physician Assistant students, local high school medical programs, and college-level pre-health volunteers.
Currently, St. Luke’s Family Practice has four full-time and one-part time staff members treating more than 500 patients annually. But, with an expected increase in demand for services, the team at St. Luke’s began to plan both short- and long-term goals for the future – including hiring a third physician. This would allow the practice to treat more member patients and, in turn, provide more care to underserved individuals. A long-time member patient suggested that the practice explore Stanislaus Community Foundation (SCF) as a potential philanthropic partner to help support this goal. In February of 2022, the St. Luke’s Family Practice agency fund was officially established.
For St. Luke’s, partnering with SCF has been transformational. With SCF managing investment and fund administrations, St. Luke’s can stay focused on what it does best – delivering compassionate, personal care. Contributions made to the St. Luke’s Family Practice Fund are invested to grow over time, helping them to secure the funding needed to hire a third physician more quickly.
Ericka’s advice to other nonprofits considering partnering with SCF? “Clearly identify what the fund will support and communicate the impact of the fund regularly to your donors.”
To learn more about St. Luke’s Family Practice, visit stlukesfp.org.
Interested in opening an Agency Fund at Stanislaus Community Foundation? Contact Melissa Van Diepen, Chief Philanthropy Officer, at mvandiepen@stanislauscf.org or 209.576.1608 x 104.