We are proud to note that OA, its founders, and our volunteers have received multiple awards acknowledging our work throughout the years. Following is a summary list:
2016
Make A Difference Day All-Star Award - Washington, DC - May 12, 2016 -
Team of 200 Operation Access volunteers win Make A Difference Day All-Star award. Gannett and TEGNA Foundations presented the award to Operation Access (OA), a San Francisco Bay Area nonprofit organization that coordinates donated specialty medical care for uninsured adults. Lester Holt, anchor of NBC Nightly News, emceed the event, and television star Andy Cohen introduced OA. Annually, one nonprofit organization in the United States is honored with the All-Star Award for its achievements on Make A Difference Day (MDDay), which falls on the fourth Saturday in October. OA provided 78 procedures to 73 uninsured people, a record-breaking day of service for the organization. On MDDay doctors, nurses, interpreters, and other medical professionals provided services in six distinct medical specialties. The clients served on MDDay were referred to OA by local community clinics. OA volunteers provided services from Santa Rosa, CA, in the north, to San Jose, CA, in the south, a distance of over 100 miles. Two hundred volunteers, four hospitals, and a surgery center participated in this initiative.
2013
Operation Access (OA) was one of ten Make A Difference Day 2013 National Award Honorees. We received a $10,000 grant from Newman’s Own; were featured in a special April 2014 issue of USA WEEKEND; and were honored at the Make A Difference Day luncheon on April 10, 2014 in Washington, DC.
Make A Difference Day is the nation’s largest day of community service and thousands of projects are planned each year across the country; we were honored to be a part of this day!
2012
Patrick Bennett, MD, Marin County Volunteer of the Year for 2012 in the Annual "Heart of Marin" awards.
Doug Grey, MD, William Schecter, MD, and Paul Hofmann, Dr.PH, OA founders, Bay Area (Albert) Schweitzer Leadership Award, Bay Area Schweitzer Fellows, May, 2012.
John Ngai, MD, volunteer, received the prestigious Jefferson Award presented by television station KPIX to outstanding local volunteers.
2011
Health Care Heroes Award for Community Impact, San Francisco Business Times
Endorsements
"OA’s coordinated use of personnel and facilities provides an innovative, reproducible model for extending surgical care beyond the boundaries of the usual free clinic. The public-private collaboration of community clinics, private hospitals, and medical volunteers leverages existing resources and good will to provide uninsured patients with access to high quality, outpatient surgical services."
Kathleen Casey, MD, Director
Operation Giving Back, American College of Surgeons
"The beauty of Operation Access (OA) for hospitals like California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC) is that we are able take one of the most costly areas of the facility (the OR) and leverage it to benefit those in need in a truly sustainable manner. OA allows CPMC to bring together our caring and highly qualified staff and physicians, who are already familiar with our complex environment, and to partner with them in noble service to our community. It’s truly a win-win situation for the patient, the community, the staff, physicians, and the hospital."
Delvecchio Finley, Vice President, Operations
California Pacific Medical Center, San Francisco
"Kaiser Permanente's partnership with Operation Access has meant a great deal to our physicians, nurses and staff. It has given them an opportunity to give back to the community in a way that really impacts people's lives -- by providing critical services to people who otherwise wouldn't have access to the health care they need.
Lara Sallee, MPH, Community Benefit Manager
Kaiser Permanente, San Francisco Medical Center
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