Sacramento’s Shifa Community Clinic Strives to Expand Services
By Ras H. Siddiqui
The Shifa Community Clinic located at 419 V Street in Sacramento, California has now been operational since at least 1994. Its location adjacent to Sacramento’s historic Downtown Mosque (established around 1947) has made it an ideal place where people in the area can receive medical care and vaccinations on Sundays. One can call the clinic at (916) 441-6008 or email info@shifacommunityclinic.org for further information. The treatment given here is not exclusive to the Muslim community and all are being seen here as this is truly a community clinic.
There are many services provided at Shifa to impacted people, including the uninsured and those with language barriers. Shifa’s team of physicians, medical students and undergraduate students from UC Davis can cater to basic patient needs ranging from primary care, dental services to women’s health, and a host of others. But as one knows medical care of any variety can be expensive and to run a clinic of this nature requires resources which come primarily from the generosity of community donors, both individuals, organizations and corporations.
To help cover some of the costs of care, Shifa also holds an annual banquet. This time the event was held at the SALAM Community Center on Saturday, December 2, 2023, with the theme of “Health and Hope: Empowering Health Equity” and it was great to see that the hall was packed with attendees. From the vision of a single person, a physician, and a desk, which started this clinic, and with our community in support Shifa now seeks to treat larger numbers at the Shifa Health Center, a five days per week regular treatment facility for which this event was a launching pad. But more on this later.
The formalities started here with a Qur’an recitation and its English translation by Ibrahim Quraishi. The emcee for the evening was Dr Arif Seyal who also proceeded to welcome everyone. He also shared the evening schedule, the two donation destinations (Clinic and Health Center), and the projected timeline for the opening of the Shifa Health Center. He reminded everyone of the silent auction being conducted at the back of the hall. And in a departure from many other fundraising events, dinner was served first before the other activities continued!
After dinner the first speaker Dr Anne Kjemtrup was invited to address the gathering. Anne is a veterinarian, who holds a PhD in epidemiology and works for the California Department of Public Health on vector-borne diseases. She spoke on the topic of Empowering Health Equity and basically zeroed in on hope in these difficult times. She called it the epidemiology of hope and elaborated on how to define or practice hope and described her talk as a summarized perspective. The opposite of fear is hope, she said. It brings about a feeling of optimism and well-being. These concepts are found in our Islamic beliefs as well, she said. Allah has put us in a position to help others. You need hope as a driver for change. We must never lose hope.
Dr Shagufta Yasmeen, who is the current leader of the Shifa Clinic effort in Sacramento, spoke next. She started by thanking all for attending. She said that for the past almost two decades our community members and the Muslim Mosque of Sacramento have invested in the Shifa Clinic. She also shared information on the status of the clinic and the goal of establishing the Shifa Health Center. Along the way, she thanked SALAM, the outstanding support that the clinic had received from the Sacramento Muslim Mosque/Imam Qasmi plus some people in the community both individually and collectively for their tireless efforts. These included the physicians, medical students, and the UC Davis undergrads crucial to the life of the clinic.
Dr Shagufta shared the past and recent achievements of the Shifa Clinic in its quest to provide free, high quality, multilingual and multicultural health care in the area with community support. ‘We have provided health care to over 7,000 patients since the clinic’s inception,’ she said. On the demographics of the people provided care 38% were Latinos and 10% African Americans, she informed. She also furnished details of the positive educational impact of the clinic locally, and the awards that it had received from UC Davis this year. She asked the Shifa alumni present to stand up and be recognized. ‘We have delivered as a clinic with your support,’ said Dr Yasmeen.
So, what is next? The status of the future Shifa Health Center project was highlighted. Dr Shagufta said that many people in the community had asked for a full-time (not a weekend only) clinic. The initial thought was to expand the clinic at its current location but due to the necessary requirements it was found not feasible, she said. A new place has been leased and the aspiration for a full-time clinic, the Shifa Health Center has turned into an emerging reality which we hope to start next year, she added. So far over $65,000 has been spent to start the project while the projected cost for the year will be just over $500,000. Community support is needed for this.
To motivate everyone Dr Mohamed H. Khan was the chosen keynote speaker for this event. And when he spoke next, there was little doubt left as to why he was chosen. Dr Khan said that he was humbled to be a part of this noble cause. He gave the example of a financially impacted seriously ill patient of his with a hole in her heart who was treated successfully with the help of UC Davis. He then reflected on meeting her daughter many years later who as a young nursing student came to his office to seek part-time employment!
Dr Khan also shared some of his personal family journey, since his mother lost her battle to heart disease at a very young age. He said that we do have some control on how we are going to live by eating healthy and not smoking etc. but we have no control over our own birth. We have no control over whether we will be born to rich or poor parents or whether we will be born in Ukraine, Russia, Afghanistan, or Gaza. Many of us are here from those countries today, but it is with the blessings of Allah that we are all here (in America).
Dr Khan said that little did he know decades ago that a simple desk and a chair would be the humble beginnings of the Shifa Community Clinic. (On a side note, the good Doctor is a very humble person and may have failed to mention that he may have been the person who occupied that desk and chair!). He spoke of the initial encouragement that he received from community members and of the pride that was felt that this essential service to the people of the area was physically attached to a Mosque. Due to article length constraints, we will have to stop here, but Dr Mohamed H. Khan’s speech was truly inspirational.
The fundraiser which followed next was led by Dr Najme Minhaj, Dr Khan and Imam Qasmi. Almost $190,000 was collected at this event, but that figure is still an approximation. And soon after, Dr Mutahir Khan led a short Awards Ceremony and closing remarks ended the event at Isha prayers.
To conclude this report, as the holiday season approaches, one also needs to mention the positive contributions that Muslims and Asians have and continue to make in mainstream America. The Shifa Clinic is one such example of our immigrant community thinking local and, in the process, helping the fiscally and linguistically disadvantaged in the Sacramento region. Bravo.
