First free surgery center in the US opens in Orange County

The first free surgical center in the U.S. has opened in Orange County.  

The Lestonnac Free Clinic’s new surgery center will rely on a network of surgeons donating their time to perform low-risk vital procedures for patients who cannot afford care.

Those procedures include hernia repairs to allow patients to get back to work, cataract surgeries to restore sight and colonoscopies to screen for cancer.

The clinic has been providing free basic health, dental and vision care to thousands from its office in Orange for decades. The new 4,000-square-foot Lestonnac Surgery Center celebrated its grand opening Thursday and expects to start performing its first free surgeries in mid-June.

“The dream  of this surgery center came up years ago because too many patients were underinsured or uninsured,” said Ed Gerber, the clinic’s executive director.

Supporters say this kind of care is even more necessary as California faces a $6.2 billion Medicaid funding gap, and the future is uncertain for 15 million residents who rely on the program.

Lestonnac doesn’t bill insurance companies or receive federal or state funds, instead relying on private donors. The Thompson Family Foundation donated $4 million to open the new surgical wing.

The clinic expects to provide about 700 free surgeries in the new center’s first year.

Free surgery?

The nonprofit Lestonnac Free Clinic has been offering patients limited free surgeries since 2019. The clinic’s volunteer surgeons currently perform about 13 operations at partner hospitals each month, Gerber said.

In the new surgery facility, the clinic will be able to perform more than 60 surgeries per month — tripling the total number of free surgeries the clinic provides to uninsured patients.

“There is a growing number of people who need surgery but they don't have the resources or access,” said Dr. Theresa Chin, an acute care surgeon at UCI Medical Center and Lestonnac’s surgical director. “The new surgery center will change lives by allowing us volunteer surgeons to reach more patients, diagnose conditions earlier, and provide timely treatment.”

Gerber, the clinic’s executive director, said a medical center offering basic surgeries for low-income patients is badly needed in the area his clinic serves.

“In Orange County, we don't have a county hospital, so there's nowhere we can send a patient that needs help,” Gerber said. “If we try to send them to L.A., they say they're not an L.A. resident. So it's important, especially here in this county, that we make a difference and fill that hole that is not being filled.”

Lestonnac Free Clinic executive director Ed Gerber tours the new surgical facility with major donor Bill Thompson on its grand opening on May 1, 2025.

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Gerber said insurance doesn’t always cover the surgeries people need, like a lipoma on somebody’s back, which insurance companies consider cosmetic.

“ The insurance company may not pay for it unless it's life threatening,” Geber said. “Those types of surgeries, it's very important that the person, just for their continued wellbeing, be able to get those surgeries.”

A big part of the clinic’s work will also include doing free diagnostic tests for throat and colon cancer.

“The endoscopies and colonoscopies, if you don't have insurance, it's $3,000 or $4,000 to get one of those,” Gerber said. “But if you don't get it and you have cancer, that means a life sentence, you know? I mean, we can't let individuals slip through the safety net.”

Volunteers and donors

Lestonnac Free Clinic opened as Orange County’s first free clinic in 1979. It’s now one of a few dozen nonprofit free clinics operating in Southern California. Last year, the clinic provided 12,000 patients with care at no cost.

The clinic is currently staffed by more than 300 licensed medical professionals from Southern California hospitals, who volunteer their time. That includes more than 20 licensed surgeons and 14 anesthesiologists, according to Gerber.

“That's taken us years and years of effort to try to get the doctors to donate their time to be able to do this,” said Gerber. “It's a herculean effort to make this happen, but I think in the end it's absolutely worth the effort.”

The Lestonnac Free Clinic in Orange has been offering free primary care since 1979. In 2025, it's offerings include surgeries.

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Lestonnac is also supported by local and national grants, foundations and private donors.

Before their $4 million donation for a surgery center, philanthropists Bill and Nancy Thompson of the Thompson Foundation had been long-time donors.

“We have been proud supporters of Lestonnac Free Clinic for years, and knew that this investment would help further address critical gaps in our healthcare system,” foundation CEO Bill Thompson said in a statement.

The surgery center was also funded with large donations from the Sarva Mangal Family Trust, the Patel Family Charitable Fund and the Association of Los Angeles Physicians of Indian Origin.

While Lestonnac’s two new state-of-the-art operating rooms are now fully operational, the clinic is still waiting on credentialing, which is scheduled to occur on May 19, Gerber said. They expect to begin performing surgeries in mid-June.

The clinic has a waiting list of at least 3,000 existing patients who need free surgeries, it said. It also works with other clinics who can refer uninsured or underinsured patients.

The Lestonnac team hopes the new center can be a national model for other free clinics looking to provide care to people who can’t afford it.

“ This is a response to what's been going on for a long time,” Gerber said. "It's the healthcare system’s response, it's philanthropy's response. It's not a response by any Democratic or Republican party. It's a response by individuals recognizing the problem and creating a solution.”