Extending Integrative Medicine to the Underserved

Spotlight: The Auxiliary at UCSF Medical Center, Mount Zion

The UCSF Osher Center would like to thank the Auxiliary at UCSF Medical Center at Mount Zion for their generous support of the Osher Center's Community Care Fund with a gift in the amount of $10,000.

Many patients who seek help at the Osher Center are, unfortunately, not able to afford treatment. Our Community Care Fund is designed to respond to this need. With a sliding scale fee structure, we carefully consider each patient's resources so that more patients can receive care.

Our hope is that all people suffering from serious or chronic medical problems, such as obesity, diabetes, cardiac disease, HIV, cancer, and chronic pain, can access the therapeutic and healing effects of integrative medicine.

If you would like more information about the UCSF Osher Center's Community Care Fund, please contact: Sue Merrilees, UCSF Senior Director of Development at 415-514-2612 or smerrilees@support.ucsf.edu.

Special thanks to the Auxiliary at UCSF Medical Center, Mount Zion.

Osher Center in the Community: Adam's Story

"Acupuncture helped me sleep again. And my blood pressure is coming down because the people at the Osher Center look at my whole lifestyle. They helped me get my body in synch and break that downward spiral of pain and despair."

--Adam, CCF Recipient

Adam came to the Osher Center seeking acupuncture to control his high blood pressure and chronic pain caused by an accident seven years before. Medication was not effective, his cardiologist was out of ideas, and Adam was unemployed. The Community Care Fund gave Adam a chance to climb out of this hole. "I had always been active and involved with people around me," Adam recalled. "My health made me feel needy and useless. That's changing now, and I'm so grateful to the Community Care Fund." 

Working with the Clinic's physicians, Adam adopted a new diet and nutrition plan. Then he began Tai Chi and acupuncture treatments with Joseph Acquah, LAc, OMD.  "I had not had a good night's sleep in years because of the pain," Adam said. "Acupuncture helped me sleep again. And my blood pressure is coming down because the people at the Osher Center look at my whole lifestyle. They helped me get my body in synch and break that downward spiral of pain and despair. They gave me another chance at my life." Last spring, after seven years of pain and isolation, Adam returned to work.

Dear Friends,

Adam’s return to work after seven years of pain and isolation is the type of outcome that brings great satisfaction to the practitioners and staff of the Osher Center’s clinical practice. It also warms my own heart when I hear stories like Adam’s. They reinforce for me the importance of our practice and the good that comes from combining guidance about lifestyle, including nutrition, stress reduction, and exercise, with standard medical care. Whether people are dealing with an acute illness or a chronic condition, a healthy lifestyle is key to feeling as well as possible.    

We have a talented and caring clinical team at the Osher Center. I am grateful to this team for the commitment, knowledge, and skill that they bring to their work with each patient they see. I am also grateful to our wonderful donors whose generous support of our Community Care Fund means that this care is available to all who need it.    

--Susan Folkman, PhD
Director, UCSF Osher Center for Integrative Medicine

Fundraising Progress

Friends of the UCSF Osher Center have an unprecedented opportunity to ensure the continued growth and enrichment of the Center. Contributions to the Osher Center priorities are growing: