UCSF Health Affiliates with Golden Gate Urgent Care

UCSF Health has signed an affiliation with Golden Gate Urgent Care (GGUC) to collaborate in providing top-quality urgent care in the GGUC’s six Bay Area locations. Through the agreement, the co-medical directors at UCSF Health’s Department of Emergency Medicine and GGUC will work together to provide convenient, local access to the latest technology and treatment options for a variety of urgent health concerns.

The affiliation with GGUC, which took effect July 1, is the latest in a series of recent agreements UCSF Health has made to improve patients’ access to the full range of integrated, high-quality health care – from primary or urgent care to subspecialty expertise – throughout the Bay Area.

“UCSF looks to partner with best-in-class providers across the continuum of care,” said Shelby Decosta, chief strategy officer at UCSF Health. “Dr. Kunzel shares our vision for the future and we look forward to this more formal collaboration with the Golden Gate Urgent Care team.”

“We are out in the community, where people live, so we are often the place they seek when they need a quick appointment or a walk-in visit,” said Kurt Kunzel, chief executive officer of Golden Gate Urgent Care. “By affiliating with UCSF, we can be part of a growing, integrated health care network and grow with that network, while coordinating care and improving quality that benefits from UCSF’s clinical expertise.” 

The affiliation will address the increasing pressure to lower health care costs by improving capacity and efficiency, while ensuring that patients have access to the appropriate level of high-quality care they need in a timely manner.

GGUC has grown steadily since it was founded in 2012, reaching more than 63,400 patients in 2016. It currently has four clinics in San Francisco and one each in Oakland and Mill Valley. The GGUC clinics typically operate from small retail store fronts, with consumer-centric, electronic scheduling and a highly accessible patient portal.

The affiliation is part of UCSF’s ongoing effort to meet patients’ full spectrum of health needs through a growing network of high-quality partnerships and providers in areas outside the traditional academic medical model of high-end specialty care. In the past few years, UCSF Health has affiliated with a number of Bay Area providers and health systems, ranging from Children’s Hospital Oakland (now UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland) to John Muir Health, Washington Hospital Healthcare System, St. Mary’s Medical Center, St. Joseph Health, and Hospice by the Bay. UCSF and John Muir Health also collaborated to create Canopy Health, an accountable care network that now spans the greater Bay Area and already includes GGUC as an urgent care provider.

About UCSF Health

UCSF Health includes UCSF Medical Center, which is ranked among the top 10 hospitals nationwide, as well as UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals and additional affiliates throughout the Bay Area. Recognized for innovative treatments, advanced technology, collaboration among health care professionals and scientists, and a highly compassionate patient care team, these hospitals serve as the academic medical center of the University of California, San Francisco, which is world-renowned for its biomedical research, education and patient care. UCSF Health’s nationally preeminent programs include cancer, children's health, the brain and nervous system, organ transplantation, and women's health. It operates as a self-supporting enterprise within UCSF.

About Golden Gate Urgent Care

Golden Gate Urgent Care was started five years ago by two emergency physicians trained at UCSF, San Francisco General and Highland Hospital. Our mission is to provide the best quality care, compassionately and quickly, in locally accessable, clean, well equipped centers, at low cost. Open seven days a week with extend hours and online appointments.