From pandemic response to integrated care, one clinic leader shares how relationships and trust drive better health outcomes.
By: Andrew Navarro, PHC Clinic & Outreach Manager
If you spend a day in our clinic, you’ll quickly realize this isn’t any other healthcare site.
For many of our patients, 33 Encina is one of the few steady places in their lives. It’s where someone who hasn’t had a primary care provider in years finally gets their blood pressure under control. It’s where a person who’s had to tell their story to twenty different systems doesn’t have to start over again. It’s where someone who has been “clinic homeless” assigned somewhere far from transit, stuck on a waitlist, disconnected from care can finally land somewhere stable.
During the COVID pandemic, I was working for an organization within the Opportunity Center, where PHC’s clinic is. We were trying to keep people safe in the middle of uncertainty, misinformation, and fear. I worked closely with PHC at that time to administer COVID vaccinations to many of the clients, residents, and patients connected to the Opportunity Center.
What struck me was how PHC showed up. There was no red tape or hesitation. There was a clear focus to get people what they need and meet them where they are.
As those collaborations evolved, first vaccines, then other health promotion efforts, I realized how much I had missed working in an Federally Qualified Health Center setting. Earlier in my career, I had developed and run multiple health promotion programs and a men’s health clinic. That work felt aligned with how I practice, prevention-focused, relationship-driven, rooted in access.
Being back in close partnership with a clinic reminded me that this is where I belong. Shortly after, I left my position hoping to find the right clinic job. That job found me.
I received a call from PHC’s Chief Operating Officer asking if I’d be open to a conversation. We talked. It was a genuine conversation about values, about the community, about what was possible. I joined the team to help develop an outreach program. From there, I stepped into clinical operations. Today, I serve as the Director of Clinic and Outreach Programs.
I’m proud to be here because I get to work with people who share the same integrity and ethical principles that guide my own work. This is the alignment that makes change. It’s what we mean when we say “the care that connects us.” It’s what we practice.
We provide integrated medical and behavioral health care to people experiencing homelessness and extremely low-income community members. That means primary care, medication management, behavioral health support, connection to substance use services, and close coordination with case management and housing-focused teams.
But if you asked me what the clinic is built on, I’d say trust.
The community members we serve have often had difficult experiences with systems like hospitals, clinics, social services, or referrals that never followed through. When someone has been burned enough times, mistrust falls into one big bucket.
So we have to prove when we say that we’re different.
We show up. We’re on time. We do what we say we’re going to do. We return calls. We create space that feels thoughtful, not transactional. Word of mouth in this community is powerful. When someone walks in and says, “A friend told me to come here,” that tells us we’re doing something right.
When patients trust us, they return. They set small goals. They follow through. Over time, we see people stop smoking. We see blood sugars stabilize. We see weight come down. We see people engage in therapy. These are steady wins built on relationship.
We help people navigate insurance enrollment. We coordinate referrals. We arrange transportation. We problem-solve barriers. Healthcare is complicated, especially if you’re uninsured, justice-involved, housing unstable, or managing multiple diagnoses.
One moment that stays with me involved a young man recently released from jail without his behavioral health medication. No insurance. No prescription in hand. He needed medication urgently. Our team saw him the same day. We secured free medication. We started the insurance process. We arranged transportation so he could pick up his prescription. That was trust and partnership being built in real time for the health of our community.
That is the care that connects us.
We have always been the little clinic that could. As we continue to grow, I would like to see our services expand to more patients by having a larger clinic with more enhanced services.
