HealthFirst : a center for prevention and education, is a new innovative program focused on improving the health of uninsured and underinsured residents of San Francisco with chronic illnesses, such as asthma or diabetes. The HealthFirst team offers preventive care for high-risk patients by collaborating with these patients in the self-management of their chronic conditions.

HealthFirst is a pilot project in which a different model of primary care delivery is utilized with the goal of not only improving the health of those with chronic illnesses, but also reducing the impact of preventable emergency room visits and inpatient admissions because of uncontrolled chronic conditions. A primary care physician has access to a multidisciplinary and multilingual team of community health workers, a respiratory therapist, a physician assistant and other professionals, who will work with patients to control their medical conditions before for they become critical.

Our Team  |  Our Services  |  A Phased Plan

Our Team

Overseen by Desiree Arretz, M.D., HealthFirst is staffed by a multilingual and multicultural staff, including:

Community Health Workers

Respiratory Therapist

Nurse Practitioner

Program Manager

Licensed Social Worker

HealthFirst partners with already established St. Luke's programs and services:

The Diabetes Center

Pulmonary Education Program

St. Luke's Cardiovascular Center

While these professionals are experts about diseases, it is the patient who is an expert about his or her own life. At HealthFirst, this partnership is emphasized to make management of chronic illness successful. Patients set their own goals and the clinical professionals help them make informed choices. This way, patients are more motivated and gain a better understanding of their illness and confidence to accomplish new behaviors.

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Our Services

Prevention: By offering services which are culturally and financially accessible, we are encouraging the community to seek help before it becomes an emergent situation and avoiding expensive treatment in the Emergency Department.

Education: By providing tailored education in nutrition, physical activity, and taking medications correctly, our emphasis is on teaching self-management of chronic diseases.

Innovation: This is an innovative pilot program which employs specially-trained Community Health Workers and clinical information technology to support primary care physicians in caring for their high-risk patients with chronic illnesses.

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A Phased Plan

As a pilot program, HealthFirst accepts referrals in phases. In the first phase, patient referrals are restricted to patients enrolled in MediCal HMO, from the San Francisco Health Plan and St. Luke's Health Care Center. During this important phase, HealthFirst will be developing effective approaches and protocols. The second phase will involve working in partnership with community-based primary care physicians in managing their high-risk, chronically ill and underinsured patients.

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