Written by Antai Li
Translated by H.B. Qin
Edited by Ida Eva Zielinska
Thanks to the dedicated work of all staff members, the Tzu Chi Medical Foundation (TCMF) successfully passed the Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) review once again on September 11, 2025. For the public, this achievement is an impressive report card, but for the medical teams serving daily in TCMF’s health centers and local communities, it reflects their ongoing commitment to walking the talk.
Quoting Dharma Master Cheng Yen’s encouragement, “Say what you do, do what you say,” Dr. Stephen Denq, CEO of TCMF, underscored Tzu Chi’s health care ethos – a principle reflected in the entire team’s daily dedication.
Cross-Departmental Synergy and Perseverance
The FQHC review covered more than 20 standards spanning healthcare service quality, patient record management, and financial and regulatory documentation, each requiring meticulous preparation. To ensure a smooth process, TCMF began months in advance and assigned clear responsibilities to each department for step-by-step progress.
- The administrative team organized, archived, and cross-referenced all required documentation to ensure full compliance with federal regulations.
- The medical department verified patient record integrity, reviewing charts and tracking systems to ensure comprehensive documentation of every stage from initial consultation and treatment through follow-up care.
- The IT team provided backend support, ensuring related IT systems could retrieve data instantly without format errors or missing files.
- The finance and compliance teams compared application records with annual reports and cross-referenced them to ensure data consistency and transparency.
The Culture and Communications Department at Tzu Chi USA National Headquarters documented the daily operations of TCMF’s health centers and Tzu Chi Mobile Clinics through video footage. While the visual records allow the public to gain an intuitive understanding of Tzu Chi’s work, they also enabled the team to substantiate their daily efforts with authentic footage during the review.
This footage served as convincing supporting documentation that conveyed the spirit of TCMF’s commitment to serving communities and partners. Thanks to this visual evidence, the four reviewing officials could assess TCMF’s activities not only through texts and tables, but also through a series of dynamic video records of Tzu Chi’s medical mission.
The process was not a last-minute scramble, but the culmination of routine operations. Many colleagues noted that all they needed to do was to fully present the results of their daily efforts, rather than make significant modifications during the review, because they rigorously followed procedures in their routine work. It was precisely this habit of “doing things right from the start” that enabled the entire team to demonstrate a consistent and high level of professionalism.
This review provided an opportunity not only to help the team comprehensively review existing processes, but also to use this as a basis to plan the Foundation’s future direction in accordance with policy.
Mutual Support Between the Medical Team and Patients
What best represents Tzu Chi’s medical values during the review is not just the piles of documents, but also every patient who walks into TCMF’s health centers or boards a Tzu Chi Mobile Clinic. Among these patients are families who have just immigrated to the United States and are unfamiliar with the American healthcare system, as well as people who have difficulty accessing medical care due to language, financial, or transportation barriers.
For them, Tzu Chi is not just a one-time service provider, but a long-term partner. The relationship that TCMF has established in communities is family-like. The medical teams patiently explain medical procedures and assist with examinations and referrals. They also maintain a presence in school districts to ensure children receive preventive care and health education. Tzu Chi’s medical volunteers rotate on duty at health centers and work diligently, sharing Tzu Chi’s mission and embodying its spirit, providing patient-centered care to everyone who seeks it.
Community residents have gradually come to regard Tzu Chi Health Centers and Tzu Chi Mobile Clinics as their most reliable support. Some even tell their neighbors, “Go to Tzu Chi and you’ll find someone who can help.” This word-of-mouth has taken these services beyond clinical care, making them part of community connection.
The companionship of Tzu Chi medical volunteers and healthcare teams is a source of warmth that not only supports patients through hardship but also enables TCMF to repeatedly demonstrate that health care is not merely a profession but a form of guardianship.
Invaluable Mobile Clinic Services
While Tzu Chi Health Centers are stable pillars in the community, Tzu Chi Mobile Clinics are a moving force of compassion. Unbound by location, they bridge distances to deliver health care to the most underserved corners. For many, they represent the first point of access to medical services.
Tzu Chi Mobile Clinics provide dental care and vision screenings for students during school district events, helping teachers and parents identify children’s needs earlier. For some families, it reduces the inconvenience of seeking health care and allows children to receive help faster.
The value of Tzu Chi Mobile Clinics extends beyond addressing immediate healthcare needs; it embodies Tzu Chi’s spirit of “Promises Made, Promises Kept.” By delivering care right to their doorsteps, the Mobile Clinics make this commitment tangible, showing residents that medical services are not out of reach.
For Tzu Chi, Mobile Clinic outreach is not merely supplementary: It is the most direct embodiment of Tzu Chi’s spirit of “Walking the Talk.” It is by upholding such a spirit that Tzu Chi Medical Foundation truly fulfills its vision: Tzu Chi’s health care will be there wherever the community needs it.
A Flawless Pass: Commitment in Action
The flawless result of this renewed accreditation demonstrates the cumulative expertise and daily dedication of the entire TCMF team. From administration to medical services, from Tzu Chi Health Centers to Tzu Chi Mobile Clinics, and with support from the Culture and Communications Department at Tzu Chi USA National Headquarters, everyone proved one thing through action: We have always been walking the talk!
Tim Chang, Esq., Chairman of the Board, TCMF, expressed his gratitude for the medical team’s professionalism and dedication, and emphasized that the board will continue to support TCMF’s development with resources and strategies so that the mission of “Healing the person, the illness, and the heart” can be achieved and TCMF can help restore patients’ dignity.
The passing of the FQHC review is a milestone; however, what truly matters is how this foundation can be used to drive continuous improvement. Chang further noted that Tzu Chi’s medical efforts will focus on proactively streamlining procedures, enhancing patient service quality, and expanding community service locations to ensure Tzu Chi’s medical services are not only visible but also provide compassionate care to every patient in need, as if they were family.
Your love and support empower Tzu Chi’s healthcare efforts.
Written by Adriana DiBenedetto
On Thursday, May 4, 2023, volunteers and medical professionals from the Buddhist Tzu Chi Medical Foundation (TCMF) set out with community partners for a special event at Madison Elementary School in Fresno, California. On this day, a milestone achievement was reached for the See 2 Succeed vision program during volunteers’ routine service event visit, wherein the 5,000th pair of eyeglasses was dispensed since the program’s inception in 2015.
See 2 Succeed is a local nonprofit partnership that joins hands with Fresno County Schools to offer crucial vision care for children in California’s Central Valley. And, utilizing Tzu Chi’s Vision Mobile Clinics outfitted with state-of-the-art optometrist equipment, See 2 Succeed offers free eye exams to 50-60 children per week, as well as free prescription lenses for students in need — helping improve confidence and performance in the classroom and beyond. New prescription eyeglasses are usually ready in under two hours at Tzu Chi’s mobile clinics, and crucial information is provided for parents and caregivers regarding the importance of maintaining their child’s vision health. See 2 Succeed currently serves 51 schools per year, prescreening over 16,500 children yearly.
This monumental accomplishment would not have been possible for this unique service program without the support from generous sponsors like CalViva Health, Fansler Foundation, Fresno Unified School District, Fresno County Superintendents of Schools, Wesley Foundation, Valley Children Hospital, and Cradle to Career.
The hardworking team at Tzu Chi Fresno Mobile Clinic marks the distribution of 5,000 pairs of eyeglasses with a celebratory cake. Photo/Tzu Chi Fresno Mobile Clinic
At CalViva Health, we recognize various needs in our community and strive to meet those needs through partnerships with organizations like See 2 Succeed – making a difference in the lives of students across Fresno County. We are proud to support their efforts and are committed to helping ensure that every child has access to the care they need to succeed in school and in life.
Programs like See 2 Succeed are truly life-changing for Fresno County students who otherwise might not have been able to access these services. Tzu Chi USA’s Mobile Clinics empower underserved communities in Fresno and surrounding towns, with more mobile clinics in New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and San Jose, to help ensure volunteers’ care can reach as many people as possible.
Tzu Chi Mobile Clinic recognizes the tremendous importance of health and vision care in people’s daily lives. With this in mind, Tzu Chi’s medical volunteer team helps individuals and families receive the patient-focused care they need — regardless of income.
Vision Care in Motion
The city of Fresno is home to many agricultural workers and migrant families for whom treatment can be challenging to access. In addition to affordability concerns, barriers in transportation and limited resources often compound matters, meaning individuals may delay or forgo medical help. With this, Tzu Chi’s Mobile Clinic team collaborates with schools to aid as many students as possible, knowing that students learn better when their basic needs are met. In doing so, volunteers and volunteer medical professionals provide the vision treatment students need to grow and reach their goals.
With uncorrected vision problems, children may experience headaches, eye strain, blurred vision, dry eyes, and back, neck, and shoulder pain as they do their best to see the board, screens, schoolwork, or engage in beloved hobbies like sports or creating arts and crafts. All of this affects not only how they see, but how they feel and perceive themself, both now and in the future.
Tzu Chi USA’s Fresno Mobile Clinic is well-equipped with the tools to make a real difference without delay. Staffed with a team of licensed optometrists and fully outfitted with ophthalmic equipment, the clinic can diagnose eye conditions, provide vision screenings, and produce prescription lenses on the spot, all in one day. The unit presents a selection of eyeglasses according to the results, and children can pick out the frame they like best.
As expressed by Steven Voon, Executive Director of Tzu Chi Mobile Clinic, the vision clinic was designed in one sense with a bit of a ‘wow’ factor in mind for the patient. Indeed, every guest who visits the mobile clinic can surely feel the ‘wow’ experience — perhaps even seeing the world in stunning clarity for the first time, and that’s a game changer.
Tzu Chi’s Vision Mobile Clinic provides eye care on the spot. With your help, we can keep important medical programs like these going. Photo/Tzu Chi Fresno Mobile Clinic
At Tzu Chi USA’s mobile clinics, volunteers are committed to serving communities and helping families get the care and consideration they deserve. At the heart of their mission is a resonating message: if they cannot come to us, we’ll go to them — because everyone deserves to feel cared for. The services Tzu Chi provides are a blessing with far-reaching positive effects in the daily lives of these families and children, and volunteers hope the benefits will set a wondrous cycle in motion for years to come.