Nonprofit Profile: A “Tiny but Mighty” Health Clinic Made Possible by These Three Women

Peggy Jiang, Sandy La, and Christine Wen

Three longtime medical workers at the Chinese Hospital's Susey clinic are why so many local residents feel like they are treated like family. Peggy Jiang, Sandy La, and Christine Wen have worked at the clinic at Noriega and 31st Avenue for a combined total of nearly 50 years. They love their patients and the job — and the patients love them back. 

“It is my honor to recognize three remarkable women who have worked many years serving the Sunset residents at the Chinese Hospital Health Services clinic,” said Supervisor Joel Engardio at a City Hall ceremony honoring Peggy, Christine, and Sandy. “The clinic is tiny but it’s mighty. And it’s essential.”

The clinic’s history and future
Chinese Hospital opened Sunset Health Services in 1996 to provide affordable, accessible and culturally competent primary care to its patient population, now numbering more than 4,200 residents. Most are from the Sunset, 65 percent of them low income. Its services range from family medicine and women’s health to cardiology, orthopedics, mental health and more.

But the clinic is unable to offer radiology because it doesn’t have enough space, so expansion is a pressing goal, says director of clinics Jiamu Wu.

While the clinic works on plans to expand, the small space continues to serve the community in ways beyond its square footage. The secret to the clinic’s success is dedicated workers like Peggy, Sandy, and Christine. 

Their personal stories are an inspiration:

Peggy Jiang
Peggy came to the United States when she was 18 from Guangzhou, China, with her mother, brother and sister. She has lived in the Sunset nearly the whole time. 

“It’s my hometown, it’s a great area. Everything is right here! The restaurants on Taraval, Noriega, Vicente, the stores. My daughter went to middle school and high school here,” Peggy says.

She has worked at the clinic for a decade. Warm and upbeat – and seemingly always smiling – she makes patients immediately feel comfortable despite the health issues they are facing.

“I love to help patients,” says Peggy, a medical assistant who is fluent in Mandarin, Cantonese and English. “Customer service is so important – the way you talk to patients, find out what is troubling them and a way to help.”

Communicating with patients is especially important, Peggy says, because 80 percent of the clinic’s patients are monolingual Chinese-speaking. Helping with their medical issues is complicated further because “now it is hard to find Chinese-speaking specialists,” Peggy says. 

The clinic staff is “like family,” Peggy says. “We eat and shop together, and share a lot of different stuff. I think I will stay until I retire.”

Sandy La
Sandy has a unique ability to communicate with patients and put them at ease. Fluent in Vietnamese and Cantonese as well as English, she has been the clinic’s front desk assistant for nearly 22 years.

Sandy came to the United States in 1985 with her mother, whose sister lived in the Sunset. She loves living near the clinic, which made it easy to send her son and daughter to local schools. Sandy earned an AA degree at City College as a medical assistant.

Sandy loves working at the clinic because it lets her put her language skills to good use, including handling the phones and authorizing patients to see non-network doctors. 

Her secret to connecting with patients: “I just listen. After they say everything from their heart, they feel better. When I send them to the emergency room, they are nervous. When they come back, they say thank you. You feel proud of yourself.”

Christine Wen
Christine Wen started working at the clinic as a phlebotomist in 2014 and held that job for five years before becoming a medical assistant in 2019. 

Many of her patients are initially frightened when it’s time to have their blood drawn, but Sandy finds a way to dial back their fear.

“If a patient is scared,” she says, “ I get them to think about the weather, not the vein.” 

Christine came to the United States in 2007 from Hong Kong with her mom and dad. Christine fell in love with the Sunset — and the store IKEA.

“Everything in my house is from IKEA!” says Christine, who makes Chinese soup every week and takes care of her grandmother.

Christine hopes to remain at the clinic for many more years. 

“I like my boss, co-workers, and patients. Everybody is very nice to me,” she says. “I want to stay here till I retire.”

Reported and written by volunteer community journalist Tom Colin. We encourage residents with journalism experience, retired journalists, and student journalists in high school and college to volunteer as writers for Supervisor Engardio’s newsletter. Interested? Apply here. Do you know a story you would like to see featured in the newsletter? Tell us about it here.