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About Gardner Health Services

Location:

160 East Virginia Street, Suite 100, San Jose, CA 95112, US

Mission Statement

Gardner Health Services is dedicated to improving the health status of the communities we serve, especially communities that have been historically under-resourced. Our mission is to provide high quality, comprehensive health care, including prevention and education, early intervention, treatment and advocacy services which are affordable, respectful, culturally, linguistically and age appropriate.

Description

Gardner Health Services was established by Stanford medical students working with community groups to care for the low-income, largely migrant labor population in Santa Clara County. These programs emerged out of the Civil Rights movement in the late 1960’s and from a mission of advocacy and cultural sensitivity which remains strong even today.

Recognized today as Gardner Health Services, the organization began as two store-front operations in two distinct San Jose neighborhoods. One in Alviso and the other in the Gardner neighborhood of San Jose. In both places, it was Stanford medical students and members of the local communities who banded together to build small clinics for the mostly migrant workers who worked in the fields and canneries.

The clinics evolved to become comprehensive healthcare providers, delivering not only medical services but other programs like WIC, Mental Health, Nutrition, Substance Abuse and Comprehensive Perinatal Services for pregnant women. Mental Health services became a part of Gardner’s effort to care for the community in the late 1970’s.

In 2021, Gardner provided care to 42,032 unique patients in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties.