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City Council honors St. John’s Community Health on 60th anniversary, highlights street medicine and maternal programs
Summary
Los Angeles City Council recognized St. John’s Community Health for six decades of service to South Los Angeles and neighboring communities, spotlighting mobile clinics, street medicine, Black maternal health work and programs serving transgender patients and people experiencing homelessness.
Councilmember Curren Price recognized St. John’s Community Health during the Los Angeles City Council meeting, marking the nonprofit’s 60th anniversary and praising its role providing medical, dental and behavioral health services in South Los Angeles and the surrounding region.
St. John’s leaders told the council their network now includes more than 24 health centers and four mobile clinics that, they said, served more than 1.5 million patients over three decades. Jim Manja, identified in the presentation as St. John’s CEO and president, outlined programs the health center runs, including a reentry program for people leaving incarceration, a large transgender health program and a street medicine program that treats people living on the streets.
“Healthcare is a human right, and we’re going to continue to fight and serve the populations who need and deserve the highest quality healthcare in this county,” Jim Manja said during remarks to the council.
A St. John’s patient, Kiana Purifoy, described participating in the center’s Committed to Black Wellness and Health program and said it provided emotional and practical support during her postpartum period. At the podium, a St. John’s street medicine provider, Bukola Olusanya, said the center treated more than 10,000 people experiencing homelessness last year through mobile clinics and street-medicine teams and said St. John’s expects to increase that number this year.
Councilmembers and other speakers praised St. John’s for running programs they said address the root causes of poor health — including mental-health and substance-use treatment, housing navigation and workforce support — and for partnering with local offices on vaccination and disaster response during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Councilmember Price and others emphasized the nonprofit’s community role during emergencies, noting the organization’s recent work on a community resilience center that will provide emergency shelter and programming. St. John’s staff also discussed their efforts to preserve programs targeted to historically marginalized groups after proposed federal funding cuts, saying they had defended programs in court when needed.
Councilmembers concluded the presentation by thanking St. John’s staff and patients for their work and service to South Los Angeles and neighboring communities.
