We help people get well and stay well by offering a wide range of services that integrate patients’ primary medical, dental, vision and behavioral health care. We also offer services for substance use treatment, child development and health education.
Access to high quality primary care is the foundation for health and well-being. Our care team can help with both acute and chronic conditions, whether patients are suffering from a cold or managing a chronic illness like diabetes. Many of our clinics offer multiple services on-site, and our medical providers work together to ensure that all our patients’ health needs are being addressed as holistically as possible.
All patients have access to a wide array of specialty medical care offered by volunteer clinical providers. If patients need services that we do not provide at the Clinic, we refer them to one of our many community partners.
Venice Family Clinic provides a wide range of vision care services, including optometry and prescription glasses. For our current primary care patients, our in-house optometrist performs exams, after which a member of our vision care team helps patients select a suitable frame. Our volunteer specialists and community partners provide ophthalmology services to detect and treat eye conditions or diseases.
Venice Family Clinic is proud to offer comprehensive, compassionate and confidential mental health services, including therapy, , domestic violence programming and substance use treatment. We offer individual, couples, and family therapy; support for children who have witnessed in-home violence; LGBTQ+ support’ teen counseling; and HIV services. Our psychiatry services include medication for mental illnesses such as anxiety, panic attacks, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Substance Use, Motivation and Medication Integrated Treatment (SUMMIT), our substance use treatment program, takes a unique approach rooted in trauma-informed care and harm reduction, a philosophy that aims to keep people safe by meeting them where they are in their recovery. Our providers can offer medication for substance use disorders for people who want to reduce their use of opioids and alcohol. The SUMMIT program also offers substance use-specific counseling, therapy, case management and support groups. Patients are free to choose to participate in either or both programs, based on their personal goals and priorities.
The Clinic’s Simms/Mann Health and Wellness Center houses our integrative medicine program, where our team blends treatment methods, including yoga therapy, acupuncture, chiropractic, and osteopathy. Our treatment programs are complemented by activities that enhance well-being, such as mental health support, stress management, nutrition and fitness education, obesity prevention and management, and a chronic pain clinic.
How Our Program Started
Sometimes staying healthy means taking medicine. That’s why we have full-time licensed pharmacies at three clinic locations, so our pharmacists can make sure our patients leave with their medication in hand.
Pharmacy Hours
Health educators are available to provide easy-to-understand information through one-on-one visits and group classes for everything from prenatal education to how to manage conditions like diabetes, asthma, obesity or high blood pressure. Our educators also teach the important impact diet, exercise and sleep can have on people’s lives.
Health Education ClassesOur professional care teams provide primary medical care, dental care and behavioral health services for a large and diverse population. As part of our personalized approach, we offer many specialized services that address the unique needs of our patients, including:
We support expectant families through their entire pregnancy. Mothers get focused attention from our care team and referrals for related services, from prenatal vitamins and ultrasounds, to blood testing and amniocentesis, through labor, delivery and postpartum checks. We offer prenatal counseling to expectant parents, and we even offer baby showers to help mothers-to-be meet each other.
Venice Family Clinic’s Fineshriber Pediatrics Program ensures that our youngest patients get the care they need to stay healthy. In addition to state-of-the-art medical care, children benefit from a range of services to promote their health and well-being, including dental and vision care, free books to promote reading, child and family therapy, parenting workshops, and nutrition classes at our teaching kitchen. Families participating in our Children First Early Head Start program get personalized attention and participate in group sessions, all of which helps them access our full comprehensive health and social services offerings.
Venice Family Clinic provides teens with not only primary medical care, but also mental health services, domestic violence screening and support, and referrals to a wide variety of specialty care as needed. We also offer confidential contraceptive counseling, pregnancy and sexual health tests, and counseling related to common issues such as sexual orientation, gender identity and substance use. We provide this care through our Teen Clinic and also through our clinics at Santa Monica High School, Culver City Middle and High Schools, and Carson High School.
More than half of our patients identify as women. Our Judy & Bernard Briskin Women’s Health Program empowers patients to take charge of their health while providing access to the care and support services they need to keep themselves and their families well. We provide reproductive health services, mammograms, pap smears, HPV vaccinations and other vital medical services. We also have programs to address mental and behavioral health needs, as well as help people impacted by domestic violence. We believe that people of all genders have a right to quality reproductive care and strive to meet their needs in the most inclusive and comprehensive way possible.
We treat people experiencing homelessness in-clinic or through our groundbreaking street medicine program. Our locations are friendly and welcoming, and we offer access to care for both acute and chronic conditions, as well as support for mental health issues, addiction and emotional trauma. We work with community partners to provide medical support as part of nine street outreach teams that span Los Angeles from the Santa Monica Mountains to the South Bay. These teams, comprised of medical clinicians, case managers, social workers and psychiatrists, integrate our patients’ health care with programs to get them housed and off the streets.
We offer gender-affirming services for our patients who identify with a different gender than what they were assigned at birth. These include hormone therapy and surgical referral, behavioral health consultations to manage the emotional aspects of transitioning, and case management.