NEMS expands dental and acupuncture services to Richmond District clinic on Clement Street

(SAN FRANCISCO) North East Medical Services (NEMS) announced the expansion of dental and acupuncture services to its Clement Street Clinic in the Richmond District to serve its patients who are mostly on the Medi-Cal program.

NEMS made the announcement in a ribbon cutting ceremony held at its Clement Clinic on August 2.

NEMS is one of the largest non-profit community health centers offering comprehensive health care services in the United States and targeting the Asian immigrant community in San Francisco Bay Area. The majority of NEMS' patients are on Medicaid who are low-income and seniors. Currently NEMS operates 17 clinics and delivery sites in San Francisco, Daly City, and San Jose.

NEMS' clinic at 1019 Clement Street in the Richmond District was opened in 2012 with lab and pharmacy services. Most of NEM's patients qualify for Medi-Cal, a Medicaid program under California State, but access to dental, acupuncture, and other specialty services is limited on the Westside of the City, according to NEMS.

In San Francisco, NEMS has offered dental and acupuncture services at some of its clinics in the Chinatown and Portola neighborhoods, but similar services are limited at the Westside of the City.

For many years, NEMS' patients who reside in the Richmond and Sunset Districts need to visit other clinics for services. Under the expansion program, NEMS' Clement Clinic offers 5 dental chairs and 4 acupuncture rooms. Its Sunset District Dental clinic on 19th Avenue and Noriega Street has opened and offered 4 new dental chairs for services.

“We are thrilled to be expanding our dental services to the West side of the city. Within a 10-mile radius of the Richmond district, only a handful of practices that accept Denti-Cal are taking new patients. It is a shame that Medi-Cal patients have such difficulty accessing dental care," said Dr. Nathan Yang, NEMS’ Dental Director.

"Along with two other sites that we are opening in the Sunset, we estimate that our new dental sites on the West side will be able to serve an additional 8,000 patients annually, the majority of whom rely on Denti-Cal,” Dr. Yang said. Denti-Cal is a dental service for the Medi-Cal patients.

Medi-Cal patients have traditionally faced barriers in accessing care due to factors including public knowledge about the program, very few dental practices accepting Denti-Cal, and long travel times to access dental care, according to NEMS.

Data indicates that only 36% of dentists statewide accepted Denti-Cal In 2021. The barriers have led to low rates of Medi-Cal eligible adults visiting dentists. In 2019, only 22% of adults aged 21-34 and 27% of seniors aged 65-74 visited the dentist annually.

Low reimbursement rates for Denti-Cal and arduous paperwork for dentists also contributed to lack of Denti-Cal providers. Denti-Cal reimbursement rates for California dentists ranked among the lowest in the nation.

Acupuncture has been a covered service under Medi-Cal and most health insurance plans. “Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and acupuncture services are some of the most popular and exciting services we have at NEMS. Patients always look forward to their visits, and we develop strong and long-lasting relationships with them," said Dr. Lili Qiao, Director of Integrative Medicine at NEMS.

As the demand for acupuncture services grows, NEMS has expanded Integrative Medicine services to nine locations across the Bay Area over the last six years with two new locations on the West side in Richmond and Sunset Districts.