Access to healthcare is a critical weakness in the American healthcare system. Add economic downturns, increased costs of living, rising unemployment and more Americans lose health insurance and go with out healthcare each day. Everyone—young or old, healthy or sick—is put at risk.
Nonprofit community clinics provide healthcare to all people, regardless of their ability to pay. They serve the uninsured, working poor, high risk and vulnerable populations. But the demand for their services is increasing just as their funding is decreasing. For over 29 years, Operation USA has provided supplies, equipment and medicines—free of charge—to community clinics and health centers throughout California.
Operation USA’s California Clinics Supply Program provides, on average, more than $5 million worth of materials each year. Over 100 nonprofit agencies are served throughout the state that provide clinical, mental health and/or social service care to men, women, and children in need. Partnering with manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers and retailers, donated products are shipped directly to the clinics based on their current needs.
Operation USA maintains a 24,000 sq. ft California Board of Pharmacy-licensed warehouse at the Port of Los Angeles where donated items are received, staged and stored.
Operation USA Open Warehouse events are held regularly for partner clinics who are invited to ‘shop’ at the warehouse and select, free of charge, useful items from the inventory. These events allow the clinics to interact with each other as well as learn more about the donating companies.
Operation USA’s California Clinics Supply Program continues with thanks to many generous supporters. Product donors include: Brother’s Brother Foundation, Heart to Heart International, Kaiser Permanente, DAVA Pharmaceuticals, King Pharmaceuticals, McKesson, Mitsubishi, and others. The California Community Foundation, The California Endowment, Kaiser Permanente, Blue Shield Foundation, McKesson Foundation, San Francisco Community Foundation, California Healthcare Foundation and The Lincy Foundation, among others, provide financial support.