OUR
HISTORY
Lvon-Martin was established in 1979 by Dr. Patty Robertson, Sherron Mills, NP, & Alana Schilling who aimed to improve access to affirming care for lesbians and queer women in San Francisco.
“The Women’s Alternative Health Service” was founded with Patty & Alana on the Board and Sherron as the first Executive Director. With their permission, the clinic was named after co-founders of the Daughters of Bilitis, the first known lesbian organization in the US, Phyllis Lyon & Del Martin, and after raising $500 at a benefit concert at the Women’s Building, Lyon-Martin Women’s Health Services opens at the San Francisco Public Center with the aim of providing affordable, nonjudgemental, comprehensive healthcare and health education for lesbians.
In 1980, facing an overwhelming demand, a permanent clinic is established on Fillmore St where Lyon-Martin began operating 5 days plus two evenings per week. In 1983, Lyon-Martin relocated to Mission St in the Los Portales Medical Building and several years later, it moved to 1748 Market St.
Lyon-Martin Health Services and the Women’s Community Clinic were two independently operated community clinics in San Francisco. However, in 2015 and 2017, respectively, both organizations merged with HealthRIGHT360. The clinics were then relocated from their sites to 1735 Mission St, combining staff and patients alike. Staff subsequently re-named the newly blended clinic as Lyon-Martin Community Health Services, melding the names of both.
When HealthRIGHT360 proposed to close the newly merged clinic just two years later in 2020 claiming the clinic was not financially viable, the staff, patients, city and broader community alike organized to support the separation and independence of the clinic, once again. Thus, Lyon-Martin Community Health Services, the now independent, Federally Qualified Health Center, as it exists today, was born out of a merger between Lyon-Martin Health Services and The Women’s Community Clinic and their subsequent separation as one entity from their parent organization HealthRIGHT 360 in March 2022. Since independence, Lyon-Martin has over doubled its budget and is projecting an abundant future.
The Women’s Community Clinic was founded in 1999, after the Women’s Needs Center was closed as the result of financial cutbacks by Haight Ashbury Free Clinics. Four months later, Jessica Wolin and a group of volunteers and clinicians reopened the clinic as an independent entity, The Women’s Community Clinic, at 2166 Hayes St., with the mission to improve the health and well-being of all women, by providing free health care for women by women in a safe, respectful environment. The clinic eventually moved to 1833 Fillmore St.
Del Martin, on preserving their legacy
“The best way to honor us is to carry on the work that has been done. Perseverance. In every loss are the seeds of success. Patience. Education never-ending. Continue to work with youth, but tell them about our history.”
CLINIC HISTORY & MILESTONES
1969
The Women’s Needs Center, an arm of the Haight-Ashbury Free Clinics, opened in 1969 to provide freehealthcare services to over 4,000 women annually usinga “by us, for us” model.
1977
UCSF OBGYN resident, Dr. Patty Robertson, saw a lesbian patient who had possible pelvic inflammatory disease. At at the time, it was not known whether cis-women could contract STI’s from sexual partners who were cis-women. This inspired Patty along with Sherron Mills, NP & Alana Schilling to develop a pilot study on lesbians and STIs that operated out of SF General Hospital’s Women’s Clinic Its success indi- cated a need to provide specialized health care for lesbians in a safe environment.
1979
UCSF residents established a clinic for lesbians who lacked access to
non-judgemental, affordable comprehensive health care. They decided to name it after Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon, lesbian activists in the city of San Francisco whose lives and work are inter- twined with their enduring dedication to social justice.
1980
Lyon-Martin begins operating two evenings per week with an all-volunteer staff. After several months, it became clear that a full-time clinic was needed in order to provide continuity of care and adequate follow-up of the diverse medical problems seen in the patients. A permanent space was established on Fillmore Street, where Lyon-Martin began operating 5 days, plus two evenings per week.
2000
Lyon-Martin moved to 1748 Market St. and became one of the first community clinics in the country that formalized safe access to gender affirming hormone therapy prescriptions and surgery referrals.
2009
Project HEALTH was established to increase access to provider education around trans health issues. Project HEALTH began as a training and technical assistance program with a clinical rotation component. Project HEALTH later launched TransLine, the first and only freely available transgender health e-consultation service for providers in need of clinical support caring for transgender patients.
2012
Obtained Medi-Cal coverage for the first vaginoplasty known to be covered by a Medicaid managed care plan, creating a streamlined process for vaginoplasty referrals to be covered for low-income trans individuals in San Francisco, and created precedent for it to be covered by insurance company across the state, and subsequently, across the country.
2015
Lyon-Martin merges with HealthRIGHT 360—a family of clinical and behavioral health programs that serve low-income communities throughout California. The partnership enables both organizations to maintain and expand culturally compe- tent care and services to women, queer and transgender people.
2017
In November 2017, Under the auspices of HealthRIGHT 360 Lyon-Martin and Women’s Community Clinic joined forces at 1735 Mission St. This partnership expanded access for our clients to even more crucial health resources around the Bay Area.
2022
Lyon-Martin Health Services and Women’s Community Clinic separated from HealthRIGHT 360 and together established Lyon-Martin Community Health Services. Lyon-Martin launches first guaranteed income program for trans people
2024
Lyon-Martin expands into a permanent building and accquires St. James Infirmary’s Street Outreach Program, increasing access to care for street-based sex workers!!