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# Venice’s prized clinic
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/venices-prized-clinic/
- Published: 2006-01-25T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T17:05:08.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Health, Venice, #archive-import, Homeless

*By Daily Press staff*

A local clinic is a big winner. In recognition of its leadership, hospital, community partnerships and its primary health care services, Venice Family Clinic has won the 2005 Foster G. McGaw prize for excellence in community service.

Venice Family Clinic serves 22,000 low-income, uninsured and minority community members, including more than 3,000 homeless persons, on the westside of Los Angeles County.

Each year, the $100,000 award is presented to a health care organization that provides innovative programs that help improve the health and well-being of the community.

Named as finalists and receiving $10,000 each were Franklin Community Health Network in Farmington, Maine; Healthy Communities Initiative of Bartholomew County in Columbus, Ind.; and Pitt County Memorial Hospital in Greenville, N.C.

“The Foster G. McGaw Prize recognizes health care organizations that demonstrate a passion and commitment to making their communities healthier and more vital,” said Susan Manilow, chair of the Foster G. McGaw prize committee. “The truly inspiring work of the 2005 winner and finalists is a testament to this commitment in improving the health and quality of life of their communities. They provide excellent examples for others to follow.”

Launched in 1970 by volunteer physicians Philip Rossman, M.D., founder, and Mayer B. Davidson, M.D., co-founder, Venice Family Clinic first operated at night out of a borrowed dental office.

Today, the Venice Family Clinic is the largest free clinic in the nation, with a staff of 250 and more than 2,300 volunteers who help fund and deliver comprehensive primary health care as well as specialty and supportive services benefiting 22,000 men, women and children at seven community locations during the nearly 106,000 patient visits they receive annually. “The clinic has responded to and sustained programs that address the real needs of the people it serves, and it works every day to improve the health and quality of life of the most vulnerable members of its community,” Manilow said.

The many people served by Venice Family Clinic include uninsured working-class and homeless individuals and families, many of them immigrants with little education. The clinic collaborates with more than 70 health and social service providers, including local hospitals, professional organizations, governmental agencies and community-based organizations across Los Angeles and California.

“The Venice Family Clinic has close to 500 volunteer doctors who provide primary or specialty care at one of the clinic’s seven sites or at their private offices,” said clinic CEO Elizabeth Benson Forer. “Our community partnerships with the Los Angeles hospital community mean that someone who is gravely ill and might otherwise die can receive treatment — at times even surgery — at no cost.”

In addition to its strong leadership and partnerships, Venice Family Clinic was recognized for a wide array of responsive, high quality programs and services, including mental health services, diabetes care management program, community health training programs, public health insurance outreach and enrollment program, and pharmacy access program.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 25, 2006.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/012506.pdf?ref=smdp.com)