About Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinics

Our Mission: The mission of Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinics is to provide high quality, affordable medical and dental care to all people, especially those uninsured and otherwise underserved, while maintaining a welcoming environment and treating patients with compassion, dignity and respect. We strive to achieve excellence and to maximize the potential of each employee, volunteer and board member through a respectful and supportive organization.

Our History: Our three original medical clinics were independent, "free" clinics from the 60s era. In the late 90s, all three were struggling and the decision was made to merge and SBNC was formed in 1999. Our Dental Clinic started in 1995 as a community collaboration of several organizations operating as Carrillo Family Dental Clinic and merged into SBNC in 2003. In 2004, our new clinic building opened on Milpas Street and was named the Eastside Dental Clinic. Our Health Program Center was created out of a community needs study done by Casa de la Raza in 2002 for more culturally appropriate education and prevention services in our community.

Medical and Dental Services: We provide adult and geriatric care, general physical exams, pediatric care, well-baby exams, immunizations and podiatry. Our dental clinic provides fillings, extractions, roots canals, dentures and preventative care such as cleanings, exams and x-rays.

Health Promotion:Our health program includes cancer detection, smoking cessation in English and Spanish, nutrition, diabetes prevention, pregnancy education, Hep C and HIV testing, family planning. Our Health Program Center also does a substantial amount of community outreach through our Promotores de Salud or Teen Health Advocates program.

Who do we serve?:

• • 68 percent of our patients report incomes below the Federal Poverty Level.

• • 65 percent of our patients are Latino.

• • 58 percent of our patients are women.

• • 31 percent of our patients are children.

• • 65 percent of our patients are between the ages of 20 and 64.

• • There are 8.3 million uninsured children in America.

• • California's rate of the uninsured is 3 percent higher than the national average.

• • 2/3rds of our patients do not qualify for Medi-Cal.

• • SBNC has been responsible for 48,000 visits for low-income residents in the last 12 months.

• Last year alone, there were over 11,000 health education and outreach contacts by our clinics, and 1,200 of these residents came in for medical treatment as a result of what they learned.