Few know the extent of the problem as well as Sylvia Drew Ivie.

SYLVIA DREW IVIE: We are today coming to the realization of this huge gap in health status in this country and we're trying to see what can be done to narrow this gap? And one of the things that can be done is to provide affordable, accessible care in community clinics.

KEITH BROWN, PRODUCER: Southwest L.A. Is one of the most economically and culturally diverse areas in the country. Drew Ivie runs a nonprofit clinic here called T.H.E. — which stands for "To Help Everyone."

SYLVIA DREW IVIE: Whether we were born in this country, whether we immigrated to this country, whether we're rich, whether we're poor, we're all in this boat together.

KEITH BROWN, PRODUCER: Like the tens of millions of uninsured nationwide, many in Southwest L.A. Don't have the money for routine visits to the doctor, and often wait until the last possible moment to get the medical attention they need.

SYLVIA DREW IVIE: So, they go to the hospital when they go into labor. They haven't had prenatal care. Or they wait until a cut they got is very badly infected and they go to the emergency room.

KEITH BROWN, PRODUCER: The clinic provides an alternative primary and preventive care to about 17-hundred people a month. More than half of those who come here don't have health insurance. To help absorb the cost of care here, the clinic has to depend on private, state and federal funding.

But the challenge in providing that care is about more than money. It's also about serving a staggering number of constituencies.

SYLVIA DREW IVIE: We have a Japanese community, Latino. Five or six different Asian or Pacific Islander populations… African refugees.

KEITH BROWN, PRODUCER: You can hear 11 different languages spoken here on any given day, everything from Spanish to French to Yoruba to Thai.

KATE KIM: If they don't have anything like this I'd be in trouble.

KEITH BROWN, PRODUCER: Kate Kim is from Bangkok. She is now a permanent U.S. resident and has health insurance. She first came to the clinic 5-years ago, after reading in a Thai language newspaper that it had a Thai social worker. At the time she was 5 months pregnant, with no health coverage.

KEITH BROWN, PRODUCER: Today she's brought her son in for a routine check-up. His name is Courage.

KATE KIM: They follow up with you, they call you to make sure you come back here on the appointment date. and if you have question you can ask, it's open.

KEITH BROWN, PRODUCER: Kim says that it takes a while for newcomers to open up and trust the process.

KATE KIM: People who immigrate here, they don't know exactly where to go to. They come in here, you know, they have people who speaking their languages, And they can help them, kind of guide them through, and they don't have to worry about any other, you know, because people are concerned about their status…

KEITH BROWN, PRODUCER: She's talking about immigration status — being in the country legally or illegally. But for T.H.E. it is only a patient's health status that matters.

SYLVIA DREW IVIE: They know we are not the INS. And we are not here to check on them. Our job is not to make judgments about who's here and whether they should be here. Our job is to take care of people's health needs.

OFFICE SOUNDS: "Good morning Mrs. Mary Jimenez"

KEITH BROWN, PRODUCER: It means cutting through a lot of red tape… sitting down with patients… listening… and helping them fill out forms to get government help.

SYLVIA DREW IVIE: Yes, it's a very complicated process, actually, of matching the patient to the programs that our legislators and our heath administrators have said will help to pay for this.

KEITH BROWN, PRODUCER: Drew Ivie began her career as a lawyer. She worked for the government representing low income people who needed health care.

SYLVIA DREW IVIE: And I was spending all my time fighting the very government that was funding our services which seemed futile. And so I decided to leave and get involved in the direct delivery of care--

DOCTOR DAVID MARTINS TO PATIENT: I want you to rest your elbow here.

KEITH BROWN, PRODUCER: Her colleague Dr. David Martins is the clinic's medical director. He's screening this patient for hypertension - a condition that leads to heart disease. It's the cause of nearly half the deaths in southwest la.

DR. DAVID MARTINS: The bottom line was I wanted to see if there was a way I could see these people before they end up with strokes. So, if we can solve the hypertension problem, we will be saving a lot of lives.

KEITH BROWN, PRODUCER: Dr. Martins stays here despite more lucrative possibilities elsewhere. In fact most of the clinic's staff makes significantly less than their counterparts at private hospitals and health centers. Now they face possible layoffs and cut in the services they provide.

The clinic is feeling the ripple effect of California state budget cuts — some of the most severe in the country.

CLINIC WORKER: "Jamie at California wellness wants us to get our mobile mammography van to them."

KEITH BROWN, PRODUCER: The state has slashed funding to services in almost every area, including health care. That includes clinics like T.H.E., already squeezed for funds.

CLINIC WORKER: "Just call her and let her know we don't have a mobile van, ok."

KEITH BROWN, PRODUCER: The budget crisis in California means the clinic will lose at least 500,000 dollars. That's likely to translates into the loss of seven staff members and crucial programs for thousands of patients. Sylvia Drew Ivie believes this makes the clinic's mission all the more urgent. Remember, she says, "everyone is in the boat together."

SYLVIA DREW IVIE: And in order for the boat to be steady people in the boat have to be healthy. You know, not just the people in the front of the boat, not just the people in the middle, everybody in the boat needs to be healthy.