HEAL Milestones

Fall 2003

Stella de la Vega and Luis Quiñones (then post-bac premedical students at SF State) found “HEAL” (Health Education and Access Link), a SFSU student organization whose primary mission is to educate people, especially those in low-income communities, about health and wellness, and to connect the uninsured with health coverage.

Stella begins volunteering with Operation Access, a group that provides out-patient surgical procedures at no cost.

Luis hooks up with San Francisco Health Plan, a City-sponsored insurance plan that is able to enroll low-income families at low cost through goverment programs such as MediCal, Healthy Kids & Young Adults, Healthy Families, and Healthy Workers. He contacts parents of Mission district students to inform about available health plans.

Spring 2004

Professor Ramón Castellblanch, a health care reform activist and member of SFSU’s Health Education department, is named HEAL’s faculty sponsor.

HEAL begins tabling on campus to recruit student members.

May 2004

Stella and Luis volunteer at a San Francisco Health Plan enrollment event (during National Cover the Uninsured Week), in which uninsured families and individuals are able to sign up on the spot for health care coverage.

Fall 2004

HEAL is in full swing, with a complete roster of officers.

HEAL members volunteer at the biggest Operation Access event yet held.

Doc Gator, a branch of HEAL devoted to educating kids about health and the human body, is born.

January 2005

HEAL takes part in a San Francisco Health Plan enrollment event at Mission Dolores. Doc Gator makes its public debut.

April 27, 2005

HEAL hosts its own insurance enrollment event on the SF State campus (during National Cover the Uninsured Week).

May 4, 2005

HEAL sponsors a Health Policy Forum, featuring a panel of speakers who offered different perspectives on the central topic, “Beyond the Safety Net: Expanding Access to Primary Care.”

Fall 2005 to Present

HEAL members serve  as regular volunteers with City Team, an organization that provides a variety of care services to The City’s homeless population.

November 15, 2005

HEAL is a cosponsor of San Francisco State’s “Katrina Teach-in

January 2006

HEAL members Boramee Douk and Holly Holbrooks travel to New Orleans and volunteer with Common Ground Collective on the front lines of the ongoing clean-up effort.

Spring 2006

Professor  Barry Rothman of SFSU’s Biology department, who is also the pre-health professions advisor at SFSU, joins HEAL as a faculty co-sponsor.

March 18, 2006

HEAL members teach nutrition and healthy choices to kids at high risk for obesity at San Francisco General Hospital’s Healthy Lifestyles Clinic.

March 30, 2006

HEAL sponsors a Health Fair on SF State campus.

May 3, 2006

HEAL sponsors a discussion panel on health policy during National Cover the Uninsured Week.