A 1960s ‘Hippie Clinic’ In San Francisco Inspired A Medical Philosophy

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January 1st, 2018

Inside the Haight Ashbury Free Medical Clinic in its earliest days. The clinic opened on June 7, 1967, and treated 250 patients that day. It’s motto, then and now: “Health care is a right, not a privilege.”

Courtesy of Gene Anthony/David Smith Archives

Unlike many things from the 1967 “Summer of Love,” the Haight Ashbury Free Clinic survived.

The clinic, now part of a larger network, still operates out of a second-floor office overlooking Haight Street in San Francisco. A steep wooden staircase leads to a warren of small but airy rooms.

One exam room still has a wall covered by a faded psychedelic mural, featuring a collage of famous rock stars, naked bodies and peace signs.

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