Our Founding Story

The Paul Hom Asian Clinic is the oldest existing Asian clinic in the United States. In 1971, a group of UC Davis medical students led by Paul Hom held meetings with a group of activist undergraduate students from the California State University of Sacramento to discuss improving health care for the elderly Asians of Sacramento. The students saw that many of the elderly Asians as well as the new immigrant families were struggling to obtain adequate health care due to socioeconomic and language barriers and decided to start a free clinic to target this problem.

Dr. Lindy Kumagai, one of the few Asian medical faculty members at the time, consented to become the medical director of the clinic and made arrangements with the UC Davis Department of Community Health to establish the Asian Clinic as an elective course for medical and undergraduate students. Since 1972, the Asian Clinic continues to serve the Asian community in downtown Sacramento every Saturday, except during holidays including Chinese New Year.

Dr. Paul Hom had an untiring commitment to the clinic and to its purpose in serving patients of all ages in the Asian community who lack adequate healthcare due to cultural, linguistic, or economic barriers. Healthcare continues to be provided at no charge to all patients. The existence of the Paul Hom Asian Clinic has proved beneficial not only to the patients, but also to the undergraduate students, medical students, and physicians who volunteer their time and efforts. The legacy of Dr. Paul Hom continues to thrive.