We Create Healthy Communities

As a not-for-profit, community-based health system, we believe that it is our responsibility to help create healthy communities in the areas we serve. Our goal is to provide quality care to everyone who needs our services. We do this by listening to the needs of our community’s residents and responding with programs that provide access to quality health care.

In 2016, John Muir Health contributed more than $195 million to our community benefit activities, with 93% going specifically toward the community members most disadvantaged in terms of health and wellness. We are proud of these numbers which are consistent with our mission to improve the health of the communities we serve with quality and compassion.

Residency Program Focus On Vulnerable Populations


"Impressive quality of care. Providers here very clearly care about their patients, not only their medical care, but also their personal lives and experiences, and I am appreciative for the opportunity to have had such positive role models in my learning experience."

J.S. - UCSF 3rd year medical student

We partnered with the community to co-design the training curriculum for our Family Medicine Residency Program by inviting community members to participate in our Vulnerable Population Health Curricular Group. Every 3 years John Muir Health participates in a community health needs assesment for the county at large, and this helps inform our community health priorities.

We built our residency curriculum with a flexible schedule that allows residents to engage in longitudinal community focused projects while also receiving training in population health, advocacy and action.

Our training curriculum provides extensive, hands-on experience and leadership development for improving the conditions, lives and health of our communities. We integrate our residents into many of John Muir Health’s Community Benefit and Improvement Programs.

Every Thursday afternoon, residents are released from direct clinical training to allow for participation in group workshops and community engagement projects. Our workshops focus on family physician leadership development at a clinical, organizational and greater community level. Residents are assigned throughout the county to serve in leadership roles, in which they engage with community members and leaders to address the many health challenges our vulnerable populations experience including:

  • Complex mental health and psychosocial needs
  • Limited access to health and social services
  • Limited access to healthy food choices such as farmers markets
Mobile Health Clinic

Bringing primary medical care directly to the streets of underserved communities, the John Muir Health Mobile Health Clinic  eliminates barriers of transportation and access for some of those who need care the most. Our residents are an integral part of the Mobile Health Clinic, which operates for three hours every Wednesday, 2nd and fourth Thursday and every Saturday and sees about 800-900 patients per year. The truck is also used by other Contra Costa County services to deliver care to thousands of others, including the homeless in Concord, Antioch, Pittsburg and Bay Point.

Our residents are an integral part of the Mobile Health Clinic, which operates for three hours most Saturdays and sees about 400-500 patients per year. The truck is also used by other Contra Costa County services to deliver care to thousands of others, including the homeless in Concord, Antioch and Bay Point.

Vulnerable Population Health Relation

This is a clinical and community-based rotation that is designed to introduce and involve residents in the Bio-Psycho-Social-Spiritual model of patient care. Click here for more information.