Operation Access, founded in 1993, grew out of the recognition that many San Francisco residents did not have access to elective surgical or specialty care because they had no insurance and limited financial means. Using foreign medical volunteer programs as a model, Bill Schecter, MD, Doug Grey, MD, and Paul Hofmann, DrPH, set out to build OA as a domestic volunteer alternative.  From its beginning in San Francisco with a handful of volunteers working in a single hospital, Operation Access has grown to serve all nine Bay Area counties.

Over the years, our partnership with health care providers has grown to include more than 1500 volunteer medical professionals, 75 hospitals and ambulatory care centers, and 100 medical groups that provide outpatient surgical procedures and diagnostic screenings to patients referred from more than 90 community clinics.