Hidden Healthcare Gem in Oakland Staffed by Piedmont Volunteer Medical Professionals

As the political climate is getting set to change and access to quality healthcare for all remains top of mind, there’s a gem in downtown Oakland many people don’t know exists, but should. The Order of Malta Clinic of Northern California, located at the Cathedral of Light, provides free healthcare services to people of all denominations. The only requirement to see a doctor is not having medical insurance. Its clientele is made up primarily of those who have fallen through the healthcare cracks—the working poor and those who have lost a job, for example.

Since opening in 2008, the Order of Malta Clinic of Northern California has provided over 22,000 free medical appointments. They are doing something right, as today it is a thriving clinic that has certainly beat the odds, as clinics of its kind usually only last two years compared to its eight. The clinic operates three and one-half days per week and sponsors a podiatry clinic at the St. Vincent de Paul Society once a month.

The clinic, which is a clean, modern facility, is able to provide care through private donations and volunteers. Doctors, nurses and staff work free. More than twenty volunteer physicians, interns, nurses and nurse practitioners, representing over a dozen medical specialties, make up the staff. Members of the Order volunteer in many capacities—physicians, nurses, administrative support, board oversight, and some just lending a sympathetic ear to patients in the waiting area.

Among those volunteers making a difference are many Piedmont residents including Dr. James Breeden, Dr. Andrew Moyce, Dr. Naseem Sheikh and nurses Nancy Cecconi. RN, M.J. (Mary Jane) Gross RN, and Larry Miller, RN.

Dr. Breeden, a Piedmont-based oncologist, got involved with the clinic eight years ago initially because he was associated with the training program for internal medicine residents at the Oakland Kaiser Medical Center. Breeden once told me: “We had been looking for a setting for residents to have a volunteer experience and learn how to treat patients who were medically needy. The Order of Malta Clinic was brought to our attention by Dr. Gene Cattolica, a Kaiser Urologist who was one of the founders of the Clinic. I initially attended the clinic to supervise the resident doctors and continued that role after my retirement from Kaiser. I attend the clinic (almost) every Friday.”

“The Malta Clinic is a place where we are able to provide care for patients who have chronic medical problems and are unable to pay for the care that they need. We need to know how to use the lowest cost drugs and otherwise be very cost-effective, and are able to keep them healthy and out of emergency rooms, so I am sure there is benefit to the community at large. There is time get to know the patients and they are very appreciative of the care.”

Although at the clinic Dr. Breeden practices primary care internal medicine, for 40 years he practiced in the specialty of Hematology-Oncology. Breeden worked for the VA and UC Davis but for 25 years worked for Kaiser Permanente, first in San Francisco and in Oakland before he retired in 2009. He and his wife have lived in Piedmont for almost 40 years and have raised 2 daughters.

John P. Christian, KM

John Christian serves as the president for the board of director’s of the Order of Malta Clinic of Northern California. Prior to joining the Tobin & Tobin law firm (now, Weintraub Tobin) in 1984, John served as Law Clerk to the Honorable Ira A. Brown, Presiding Judge of the Superior Court, City and County of San Francisco, in 1983. He served on the Editorial Advisory Board for the first edition of California Causes of Action, published in 1998 by James Publishing, Inc. He is a member of the Commercial Law and Bankruptcy Section of the Bar Association of San Francisco.