360 Clinic expands efforts to combat COVID-19 by partnering with the U.S. Navy

Vince Tien immigrated to the United States from Vietnam at age 5.

The Huntington Beach resident said that when he was growing up he wanted to join the U.S. Armed Forces to show his appreciation for his new country. Partially because he was an only child, his parents said no.

Tien, the co-founder and chief executive officer of Orange County healthcare organization 360 Clinic, now has the opportunity to help others in a different way.

Tien said that the 360 Clinic, which has partnered with the Orange County Health Care Agency since last July to run two COVID-19 testing super-sites during the coronavirus pandemic, recently entered a partnership with the U.S. Navy.

The 360 Clinic is helping U.S. Navy staff and their families get tested in the areas of Bremerton, Wash., and San Diego, Tien said.

“We filled out the [request for proposal], and we started in less than 10 days,” Tien said. “My team went up to Bremerton and in San Diego, and we hired a bunch of people. We just started doing testing right away and set up the logistics pretty fast.”

The 360 Clinic keeps expanding its efforts and partnering with local groups. It now has more than 50 drive-through, walk-up and mobile sites in Orange County and surrounding cities, in addition to the U.S. Navy locations.

360 Clinic chief operating officer Mike Lee put in much of the effort in submitting the RFP to the U.S. Navy. Lee said the partnership is important for the 360 Clinic, which is less than a year old.

“It validates our capability to be a testing provider for any community out there, from the local area communities all the way through the federal level,” Lee said.

“It was a huge moment, a credibility build, morale build for the company. We’re proud of what we have done in the past ... and for the reviewers of the application to sort of acknowledge that was a real blessing.”

As COVID-19 numbers dwindle, the 360 Clinic plans to move into the next phase of its care: vaccination.

Tien said that on Monday his team set up a mobile vaccination site at Fountain Valley Sports Park. It will likely be there every Monday, going forward until it’s no longer needed.

Another area the group is focusing on is the Willard neighborhood of Santa Ana. Despite its proximity to the Santa Ana College vaccine distribution site, Tien said that thousands of people in the neighborhood have been unable to register to get their shots.

The 360 Clinic is working with the nonprofit Latino Health Access to provide the COVID-19 vaccination to those people and others.

“The team is super-excited,” Tien said.

“They worked really hard to get the contract, and now we’re able to pivot and move onto the next stage of COVID. We were on the front lines for testing, and now we’re moving to the front lines for vaccination. We’re looking to get a lot of people vaccinated and get this over as soon as possible.”

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