The Lestonnac Free Clinic in Orange, which has been providing free healthcare to the impoverished and uninsured since 1979, broke ground on June 21 for what it says will be the nation’s first dedicated free surgical center in the U.S.
The renovation of the outdated 4,000-square-foot building on the corner of East Chapman Avenue and North Monterrey Road was made possible by a $3.5 million donation from the Thompson Family Foundation, which was begun by Bill Thompson, the former chief executive of Pacific Investment Management Co., and his wife, Nancy.
Bill Thompson told the Business Journal that he and his wife have been following the clinic’s work for a dozen years during which time the couple donated a million dollars before the most recent gift.
“I felt this is a great story,” Thompson said. “It’s a great investment for us. They’ve done the work. It’s a perfect fit.”
Free Healthcare
The clinic was founded in 1979 by Sister Marie Therese who had taught French and music at Tustin’s St. Jeanne de Lestonnac School.
The nun was in a Roman Catholic order called Sisters of the Company of Mary, which was founded in France in 1607 by Saint Jeanne de Lestonnac to help girls receive a formal education.
Originally, the clinic focused on pediatric care until the 1990s, when it switched to providing care to adults.
Executive Director Ed Gerber has known about the clinic since the 1980s when he took his son there for treatment at a time when he didn’t have money. He started working as a part-time accountant with the clinic in 1989 and ultimately became its executive director in 2008.
The clinic obtained the Orange building in 1989 with the help of legendary local businessman Carl Karcher, founder of the Carl’s Jr. restaurant chain. It’s located a little less than a mile east of the Orange Circle.
Nowadays, it offers a variety of services from orthopedics to dental to vision. It has 14 satellite locations and a team of 300 doctors who volunteer their time.
Its volunteer surgical director is Dr. Theresa Chin, a practicing surgeon at the UCI Medical Center.
In 2022, the clinic recorded 30,000 visits by about 10,000 patients.
Surgical Lack
The clinic had a tough time finding places to conduct surgeries, often being limited to a hospital in Beverly Hills which both patients and doctors found difficult to get to.
The lack of surgery rooms limited its ability to help patients, Gerber said.
“We cannot finish the healthcare we need to finish,” he said. “With the surgery center, we can fix it.”
When the remodel is completed next spring, the center will offer two fully equipped operating rooms available for colonoscopies, hernia repairs, cataract surgeries and related procedures that are not life- threatening.
The new space expands surgical patient capacity from 16 to 64 procedures a month.