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| Golden health - a center's 32 years of care |
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| Written by Maddy Houk / Patterson Irrigator | |
| Saturday, 01 December 2007 | |
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At a glance
Golden Valley Health Center bought half an acre of land next to its building on Highway 33 and C Street recently. In the future, that land will be used for office space and more parking.  Photo by Elias Funez / Patterson Irrigator Exact plans are on hold, but officials are happy about the potential for growth. “It’s for future planning,” said Marc Smith, a site administrator. “I’m glad we got the land. It’s going to give us flexibility and services.” Merced-based Golden Valley Health Centers has provided health services in Patterson since 1975. At that time, it opened in Patterson at 44 N. Third St., where Greg Nunes Realty is today. Its new building, which offers more spacious quarters, opened on C Street in 1994. Golden Valley also has a center in Westley that is open three days a week with one doctor on staff. In Patterson, patients are seen for a variety of reasons. Of the 5,099 patients that come through the center doors yearly, 334 have diabetes and 347 have asthma. “We see all medical conditions; those are the major ones — diabetes and asthma,” said Dr. Ed Chan, the center’s lead physician. “We see just about anything.” Chan said family physicians nationwide are seeing more teenage diabetics and more pre-teen hypertension and obesity.  Dr. Yudelka Guerra checks patient Karla Salas. Photo by Elias Funez / Patterson Irrigator “They get no exercise and plenty of TV,” Chan said. “Half of these diseases can be cured with diet and exercise.” Traditionally, those with diabetes do not have good oral health, either. Mark Ory, a dentist who has worked at the site for the past 12 years, said there is more bleeding and swelling of gums in people with diabetes. One bright note, Ory said, of the 18 to 25 patients he sees a day, he has noticed children’s oral health is better than in the past, something Ory attributes to the urging of parents. “The parents are a lot smarter,” he said. At the health center, when a dentist sees something a doctor might need to know, the dentist tells the doctor — and vice versa. “We’re trying to focus on bridging the dental and medical together,” office coordinator Edwina Gradillas said. West Side’s hospital needs For more serious illnesses, Golden Valley doctors refer patients to hospitals in Turlock or Modesto, and sometimes in San Francisco or Davis. Its staff also tries to link patients with transportation. But there’s a need for a hospital on the West Side, and there is a need for more doctors and specialists, Smith said. “We’re a community health center,” Smith said. “I think all rural communities typically have a shortage of physicians. They train in a more urban area and sometimes come back to the rural area where they grew up.” Nurses such as Rick Sanchez take care of patient charts and make sure appointments run efficiently for the 16 to 18 patients the doctors and medical assistants see daily. They’re the key to getting information to the doctors Golden Valley does have. “Our hope is to always have complete medical records on every patient,” Gradillas said. To increase efficiency, Golden Valley is in the process of implementing electronic medical records, which are inputted into a computer. Even pharmacy referrals are sent electronically under the system, cutting down on paperwork. Patterson’s Golden Valley Health Center is one of the 21 Golden Valley medical sites in Merced and Stanislaus counties, including two women’s health centers and three school-based centers. More than 68,800 patients a year get medical care through Golden Valley. For the Patterson visits, 57.8 percent are Medi-Cal patients, 3.8 percent are on Medicare, 16.3 pay out of pocket and 11.7 percent pay through some other means. Fees are charged on a sliding scale, based on patient income. In total, Golden Valley Health Centers’ operating budget is about $31 million, which comes from state farmworker and uninsured grants and from federal grants for low-income, homeless and farmworker populations.
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