Order of Malta Clinic Hosts Benefit Gala Overlooking the Golden Gate

The St Francis Yacht Club welcomed nearly 300 guests on September 24 to raise funds for the Order of Malta Clinic’s newly expanded free medical clinic. The 16th Annual Champions Gala also honored two of its greatest champions with this year’s Silver Chalice Awards. This year the honorees were the late Frank Heffernan, an icon in the San Francisco business world, and Santa Barbara’s Ken Olsen. The Silver Chalice Award is bestowed upon those that have done most to further the Clinic’s mission to help those in need.

Since opening its doors in 2008, the Order of Malta Clinic of Northern California has provided quality healthcare to the hard-working poor in the Greater Bay Area. By incorporating a unique volunteer medical staffing model, the Clinic continues to offer compassion and quality healthcare to lower-income populations at no cost. Said Fr. Francisco Javier Diaz, MD, “We are more than primary care and are free, while most free clinics only provide primary care and are not truly ‘free.'”