UMMA Community Clinic

=University Muslim Medical Association (UMMA) Community Clinic="UMMA Community Clinic" is the first Muslim American founded community-based health organization in the United States. Located in South Los Angeles, it is comprised of a culturally and religiously diverse staff serving an equally diverse, though underprivileged population.

The Mission "is to promote the well-being of the underserved by providing access to high quality healthcare for all regardless of ability to pay."

Infobox Non-profit
Non-profit_name = UMMA COMMUNITY CLINIC
Non-profit_
founded_date = 1996
founder = Dr. Nisha Abdul Cader, Dr. Rushdi Abdul Cader, Dr. Mansur Khan, Raziya Shaikh, Ph.D, Dr. Khaliq Siddiq, Aisha Siddiq, Dr. Altaf Kazi, Dr. Charles Sadler, Dr. Rumi Abdul Cader, Fatima Mtume, MPH, Yasser Aman, MPH
founding board = Dr. Charles Sadler, Dr. Rumi Abdul Cader, Fatima Mtume, MPH, Yasser Aman, MPH
location = Los Angeles, California
origins = United States, US
area_served = South Los Angeles (Spa 6)
focus = Healthcare, Community

History

UMMA was started by a small group of UCLA students in 1991. Their goal: to set up a free clinic for the benefit of an entire community, based on the premise that healthcare is a right and not a privilege. The seven student founders approached and won the support of the City of Los Angeles; University of California, Los Angeles, and Charles R. Drew University.

They worked with government officials to raise $1.3 million in grants, brainstormed with architects to rebuild a dilapidated structure on Florence Ave. in South Los Angeles, and collected donated equipment.

In September 1996, UMMA Clinic's doors to the community were opened.The students have since themselves become doctors, researchers and parents.

Over a ten year period, UMMA's infrastructure has grown considerably; today employing 18 full-time staff, supported by a legion of volunteers.

Since UMMA's birth, over ten Muslim founded charitable health clinics have been established throughout the United States.

Vision and Values

To be part of a larger network of institutions addressing the health and wellbeing of the underserved and indigent, mindful of the cultural, spiritual, social and economic realities that impinge upon them and the traditional barriers to accessing care.

Core values are: "service, compassion, human dignity, social justice, and ethical conduct."

Community Served

The South Los Angeles region UMMA serves is federally classified as a "Medically Underserved Area" (MUA) meaning that the ratio of physicians to residents falls below federal standards. The region also has the highest number of uninsured residents in Los Angeles County.

The Clinic serves an impoverished but culturally rich population comprised mostly of Latinos and African-Americans. The clinic serves the unemployed, the homeless, and the working poor, where: average annual household income is less than $25,000, over 2/3 of the patients meet federal poverty or very low income criteria, 51% of area adults and 28% of children have no health insurance.

An average of 170 patients are seen weekly and the clinic now has a patient population of over 20,000 individuals who have logged over 30,000 visits.

Services include: "adult internal medicine, pediatrics, childhood immunizations, on-site mammography, gynecology, adolescent medicine, HIV/STD testing, laboratory services, health education, ophthalmology and dermatology."

Media and Research Links

Health Trumps Faith Differences at Muslim Clinic: http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/california/la-me-beliefs3nov03,0,4415461.story

Healing South Central: http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/200703/healing.south.central.htm

UMMA on KCET’s Life & Times: http://www.kcet.org/lifeandtimes/healthscience.php

Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU) Report on Muslim Community-Based Health Organizations: http://ispu.org/reports/articledetailpb-67.html

References

http://www.ummaclinic.org/?cls=Our_Story

http://www.ummaclinic.org/?cls=Our_Story&sbcls=History

http://www.ummaclinic.org/?cls=Our_Story&sbcls=Community_We_Serve

http://www.ummaclinic.org/?cls=Our_Story&sbcls=Friends_and_Partners

Key Partnerships

Kaiser Permanente

California Wellness Foundation

California Endowment

California Community Foundation