The Doctor (and the Ranger) Will See You Now

San Francisco took a huge stride forward last month by committing to fully adopting Park Prescriptions throughout their public health system. The estimated 30% of San Franciscans who use some form of public health service will be "prescribed" time outside in one of the city’s local, national, or state parks. The program is being implemented by the Department of Public Health in partnership with San Francisco Recreation and Parks and the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and represents the first time in the world that an entire city has taken steps to fully implement Park Prescriptions.

Thanks to the leadership of San Francisco’s park agencies, patients are able to fill their prescription at one of the specially designed Healthy Parks, Healthy People programs. Patients are met by a park staff member and led on an introductory walk to get them familiar with the features of the park while getting physically active and improving their overall wellbeing.

The first Park Prescription program in San Francisco was piloted at the Southeast Health Center in the Bayview Hunters Point neighborhood. The Kaiser Permanente funded pilot was led by the Institute and championed in clinic by Dr. Nooshin Razani and Dr. Jamal Harris. The lessons learned from this pilot and many others in the Bay Area and across the country will help guide the implementation and long-term plan for the program throughout San Francisco.