Addressing the needs of Pacific Free Clinic’s communitypartners during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A briefcommunication

For her capstone project, Maria Valentina Suarez Nieto conducted research on how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the needs of South Bay Area organizations, such as Pacific Free Clinic (PFC), serving communities more vulnerable to the impacts of the pandemic. Data released by the Public Health Department of Santa Clara County (SCC) revealed that the COVID-19 pandemic had disproportionately impacted minority and low-income populations, therefore, community organizations began working actively to support and provide resources to these vulnerable populations. To understand this trend, Suarez Nieto assisted in developing a high-quality, comprehensive, and up-to-date database of community organizations in SCC that provide services for specific social needs. Through key informant interviews with community organizations in SCC the research sought to (1) understand the needs of community organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic, (2) understand how PFC can better support the community organizations they partner with, both during the COVID-19 pandemic and into the future, and (3) establish a stronger and applicable referral system with community organizations. Suarez Nieto hopes this project helps improve PFC’s relationship and referral processing with community organizations while simultaneously learning how to better support SCC community organizations during the present COVID-19 pandemic. The content of this capstone is only accessible to users who have a valid Stanford SUNet ID.