The Development of a Community-Based Integrated Health Care System for the San Francisco Chinese Community (9D Paper‪)‬

(Original Title: Accessing Culturally Competent Health Care in the 21st Century) Much has been written about the experience of the Chinese in America. However, there has been little consideration given to how the Chinese obtained health care. The early immigrants came with their own Eastern traditions, but how the Chinese were able to gain access to Western medical care in the largest Chinese settlement in America is an important part of the history of the Chinese. The history of Chinese medicine goes back centuries, perhaps millennia. (1) How those who were raised in one medical system would accept another medical system, and how they would gain access to Western medicine in an environment of discrimination are exemplified in the development of the Chinese Hospital and its integrated medical system.