North East Medical Services (NEMS) launches Internal Medicine Residency Program and a new clinic at Seton Medical Center in Daly City

(DALY CITY) North East Medical Services (NEMS) announced the launch of its Internal Medicine Residency Program to train more community physicians and opening of a new clinic at the AHMC Seton Medical Center in Daly City.

“At a time when the shortage of primary care physicians is expected to worsen, we are doing what we can to address this problem by training the next generation of primary care physicians through the NEMS Internal Medicine Residency Program," NEMS Chief Health Officer Dr. Kenneth Tai said at the opening celebration on September 6.

"This program has taken almost a decade to come to fruition, and I am grateful to each person who works diligently to make this program a reality. We are excited to train the next generation of primary care physicians in a community-based setting here in the San Francisco Bay Area,” said Dr. Tai.

NEMS provides health care services in San Francisco and San Mateo County to medically underserved members. A majority of its patients are low-income and limited English proficient under the Medicaid program.

Currently NEMS operates 14 clinics mostly located in the Asian neighborhoods in San Francisco and Daly City. The Sullivan Clinic is NEMS' second clinic in Daly City.

According to NEMS, its Internal Medicine Residency Program at the AHMC Seton Medical Center is funded in part by the federal Teaching Health Centers Graduate Medical Education (THCGME) program. If Congress is not going to enact new legislation, funding for the THCGME program will expire on September 30, 2023.

NEMS urged the Congress to extend funding for THCGME along with funding for the Community Health Centers Fund and the National Health Services Corps, which also expire on September 30, 2023.

Representative Kevin Mullin (D-San Mateo), who attended the opening ceremony, supported the THCGME program. "H.R. 3561, the PATIENT Act of 2023 would fund the THCGME program until fiscal year 2029. The funding is set to run out in September 2023 unless Congress extends the program," said Mullin.

"The bill unanimously passed in the House Energy and Commerce Committee. I support re-authorizing this program because these teaching health center programs are a key aspect of health care in our district and throughout the United States," Mullin said.

According to Mullin, NEMS received a $500,000 grant in 2022 through the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Teaching Health Center Planning and Development program (THCPD) to teach physicians to specialize in Internal Medicine. The THCGME program has funded 72 existing Teaching Health Centers and 92 Planning and Development Grantees including NEMS.

NEMS' newly-opened clinic at the AHMC Seton Medical Center’s Medical Office Building, 1850 Sullivan Avenue in Daly City, offers primary care, acupuncture, and behavioral health services.

NEMS is also in the process of remodeling its clinic located at 211 Eastmoor Avenue in Daly City, which will add 10 additional medical exam rooms as well as dental and optometry services.