The St. James Infirmary is a clinic
for sex workers by sex workers. We are
a peer based clinic and most of our
providers have a personally history
with sex work and also receive care
at our clinic. Just as we will protect
your confidentiality and privacy so
to do we respect the confidentiality
of our providers. We do not “out”
which providers are current or former
sex workers or “friends of sex
workers.” We let each other decide
when and where it is appropriate to
self disclose our sex worker status.
"If you've got to go to the doctor,
this is the only way to go!" -quote
from Fifi, Pre-op tranny whore.
We have served over 1200 sex workers
and their partners, providing over 16,000
clinical visits, in our 7+ years of
service to the community. Annually,
we provide over 1400 clinic services,
500 Need Exchange contacts, 1,800 street
and venue based outreach contacts and
over 500 attendees of our harm reduction
trainings and groups for sex workers.
Who
We Serve
Our community members are:
Street and Survival Sex Workers,
Escorts,
Massage and Body workers,
Bondage/Dominatrix/Sado-Masochism
(BDSM) workers,
Adult film actors,
Nude Models,
Exotic Dancers,
Phone Sex Workers,
and many other Sex Workers and Adult
Entertainers!
Service Eligibility
Sex workers (female, male, and transgender),
their current partner(s), and their
children (Medical Services for Adolescent
and above only) who live and work within
the San Francisco Bay Area are eligible
for free health care and social services.
Clinic Hours
St. James opens officially for services
at 6pm on a first come, first served
basis (with the the exception of Thursdays,
which are appointment-based). However,
we usually begin to pass out numbers
for services as early as 5pm and begin
to let people in the door between 5:30
and 6pm to start registering people
for clinic services. It is recommended
that if you are new to the clinic or
want a slot in a sought after service
(full body massage, medical or psychotherapy)
then you should come at 5pm. The clinic
lobby can be very busy during the registration
period. Please plan to be at the clinic
for a few hours.
Please note that services
are provided on a first come, first
served basis with the exception of participants
who present with urgent medical needs.
Due to scheduling constraints, not all
services listed below may be available
during a particular night.
Tuesday: 1-6pm (last intake at 5:30)
Free Drop-In Rapid HIV Testing (with
same day results) & Sexually Transmitted
Infections (STI) Counseling and Testing
and NEX Services; Massage/Acupuncture
2pm-4pm; Peer Education Training 4pm-6pm
($30 voucher for attending 3 trainings).
Abscess/Wound care 2pm-4pm (Begins
January 1, 2008)
Wednesday: 6-9pm (last intake at
8:30)
Free Drop-In Primary Medical Care, Holistic
Services, HIV/STI Counseling, Peer Counseling,
and Psychotherapy
Thursday: 6-9pm (last intake at
8:30)
Free Appointment-based Transgender Health
Care and Hormone Therapy (please call
415.554.8494 for availability), with
Drop-In Holistic Services, HIV/STI Counseling,
and Peer Counseling.
Clinic Services:
Primary Care for adults & adolescents
including
Health maintenance screening (physical
exams, blood pressure, cholesterol,
weight)
Evaluation and treatment of acute
and chronic medical conditions such
as asthma, skin conditions, respiratory
infections, abdominal pain, high blood
pressure, high cholesterol, anemia,
etc.
Gynecological and Urological Care
(including confidential HIV/STI/TB/Hepatitis
Testing & STI Treatmentss)
Pap smears, Breast exams, referrals
for ultrasound and mammograms, colposcopies,
Testicular exam, Prostate exam, Contraceptive
counseling and prescriptions for all
genders, free birth control, emergency
contraception & Depo-Provera,
STI Treatment, and Hepatitis A &
B Immunizations.
We also offer:
Condoms & Lube
Food & Clothing
Harm Reduction Materials & Supplies
Legal & Social Service Referrals
Occupational Injury and Illness Screening
Intake
& Registration
The intake interview is the initial
step in formalizing contact between
our community member participants and
St. James Infirmary. Intake enables
community members to provide basic information
to the SJI staff in order to determine
their service needs. All information
gathered by staff through intakes is
confidential. The intake process is
voluntary.
We do not ask people to show their identification
and use whatever name and date of birth
that people want to use to receive services
at our clinic. It is recommended that
people do not use names that they use
to do sex work and that they use a name
and date of birth that they can easily
remember when accessing continuing care
at the clinic.
After people are registered they usually
go back into the community room to get
food from our pantry to take with them,
go through the clothes closet or have
an ear acupuncture treatment. All these
services are available in our community
room. We usually serve hot food in the
lobby while people are waiting to register
for services. The food is both vegetarian
and non-vegetarian. It is rarely vegan.
The food is courtesy of Waiters On Wheels
and is donated so we do not know what
is on the menu until that day.
New people will be asked to complete
a confidential intake assessment. This
information is voluntary and it is not
necessary for you to do an intake to
receive services at St. James. The intake
helps our staff get to know you as well
as give the medical providers and other
service providers some basic medical
information and history that will be
referred to throughout your care at
St. James. If you wish to skip the intake
please let your intake counselor know.
For more information how we use the
information we gather at Intake and
Registration, check out our Research
and Evaluation.
Psychotherapy
and Mental Health Counseling
Crisis and ongoing psychotherapy is
available on Wednesdays only.
Peer
Counseling
Peer Counseling sessions are provided
by staff on a drop in basis. Peer Counseling
sessions provide non-judgmental individual
and/or group support services which
focus on a variety of topics which affect
the quality of life and safety of sex
workers.
HIV/STI
Counseling & Testing
HIV/STI Certified Test Peer Counselors
provide:
Confidential HIV/STI counseling and
testing,
• HIV Rapid Testing with same-day
results (on Tuesdays only),
• RNA HIV testing (available all
clinic days),
Disclosure counseling,
Risk reduction counseling,
Referrals for on-site STI treatment
and community resources.
We are not an anonymous HIV testing site
and are under California mandate to notify
the Department of Public Health when we
have a positive HIV test result and to
provide the persons name and date of birth.
It is also important to know that all
HIV specimens include the person's name
and date of birth on them when they go
to the local lab for confidential testing.
For a listing of anonymous HIV testing
providers go to the San
Francisco Department of Public Health
.
Holistic
Services
We provide both energy and massage
based bodywork:
Energy:
Acupressure, Acupuncture, Cranio-sacral
Therapy, and Reiki are offered. All
of the energy based healing modalities,
except full body Acupuncture are performed
with client fully clothed. Massage:
Swedish and Deep Tissue Massage are
done with oil, the client is unclothed
and draped except for the part of the
body being worked on.. Trigger Point
Therapy and Zen Shiatsu are done with
client fully clothed.
Harm
Reduction Trainings and Support Groups
for Sex Workers (please call 415.554.8494
for current info)
St. James Infirmary Peer Counselors
coordinate monthly drop in groups for
male, female, and transgender sex workers
focusing on HIV prevention and harm
reduction methods and activities. Groups
concentrate on specific aspects of working
conditions, as well as mental health
and substance use issues influencing
high-risk behaviors.
Come by and meet other workers in the
sex industry. This includes people who
have sex for money or trade, work in
porn stores, work phone sex lines, do
bodywork and massage, work at a sex
club, work for porn companies on or
off camera, and other creative means
people have figured out. It will be
a relaxed social atmosphere with no
agenda except for folks to get a chance
to talk, meet and listen to each other.
Sample topics might be:
Men’s Groups
Transgender Groups
Harm Reduction Workshops:
For all genders and their partner
Sex Workers & their Partners!!
Our current groups series is focused
on SEX!! And many of its stages, hats
& sideshows, including, but not
limited to:
I. Negotiating Sex w/Clients &
Partners
• Knowing what you desire sexually
& working that into your trade
• Knowing what you desire sexually
& communicating that to your non-paying
sex partners
• Delivery is everything: It's
not what you want but how to ask for
it.
• Talking about boundaries
• Talking about physical health,
abilities or vulnerabilities
• Factors I forgot that you'll
bring!
II. Get Your Kicks Safely &
make a simple SEX TOY
• How to take care of your body
& toys before sex
Issues such as dental flossing, hand
& sex toy care
• Observing your partners' physical
health
Easy ways to inspect hand, mouth or
genital health & things to watch
out for
• Taking care of your body &
sex toys after sex
Factors like how to respond to rectal
or vaginal bleeding post fisting
• Different barriers on the market
and how to use or not use them
lubrication, male & female condoms,
gloves
• make a simple sex toy (details
announced at workshop)
There will be a harm reduction
series EVERY month, beginning on the
first Tuesday of each month
& continuing on Tuesdays for either
the next six or three weeks following,
always on Tuesdays from 4-6pm.
Besides these Harm Reduction series
on SEX, there will be a series on Drugs,
Law, Secondary Syringe Exchange Training,
Healthy ways of Street or SRO cooking
& more!
Community Outreach
SJI conducts outreach in a variety
of sex worker venues. Our outreach teams
visit the streets, bars, adult entertainment
theaters, massage parlors, SROs, and
adult video booths and bookstores. During
our weekly visits we distriibute HIV/STI
prevention and other harm reduction
materials. We provide non-judgmental
information and referrals for sex worker
friendly health and social services
and collaborate with other community
organizations which serve sex workers.
The St. James Infirmary also conducts
in-service trainings. SJI participates
in educational forums, fund raising
events, and use the media to inform
others about our work.
Needle
Exchange
The St. James Infirmary provides clean
needles and safer injection supplies
(fix kits) during all clinic hours.
We are not a one-for-one exchanger,
however we are limited in the number
of needles we can pass out (10-20 per
participant per shift).
Beginning September 1st, St. James
Infirmary expanded our Syringe Exchange
Services to include:
NEX from 1pm-6pm
HIV/STI Testing 1pm-6pm
Peer Counseling 1pm-6pm
Peer Education Training 4pm-6pm ($30
voucher for attending 3 trainings)
Massage Acupuncture 2pm-4pm
Abscess/Wound care 2pm-4pm (Begins January
1, 2008)
We also operate a secondary syringe
exchange program in the community where
peers distribute clean needles, safer
injection supplies, and conduct peer
education to sex workers in the community.
Internships
Internship positions are provided for
current, former, and transitioning sex
workers on an ongoing basis. Activities
include registration assistance, outreach,
development, and research. Opportunities
are also provided for interested students
in accordance with academic and program
needs. For more information, our
guidelines are available for download.
Collaborations
The St. James Infirmary negotiates
partnerships with various agencies both
locally and outside of the Bay Area
to make available to its participants
services that extend well beyond the
St. James Infirmary's financial and
programmatic scope. Such services include:
Organizational capacity building
Collaborative fund raising activities
Coordination and development of health
care services, social and support services,
legal assistance, child care, etc.
Research and Education
Home
Who
We Serve