In an area where 22,961 residents are uninsured, Northeast Valley Health Corporation is increasing access to primary health services with the new Santa Clarita Health Center.

The public is invited to join staff at the health center to celebrate its grand opening with a ribbon cutting ceremony and open house from 10 a.m. to noon on Thursday, October 21. The health center is located in the Albertson’s Shopping Center at 18533 Soledad Canyon Road, near the corner of Sierra Highway, in Canyon Country.

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The opening of this health center helps NEVHC prepare to serve the Santa Clarita Valley as changes associated with health reform are enacted. By 2015, health centers across the country will double their capacity to 40 million patients. By opening the new center now, NEVHC will be ready to serve an expanded capacity of patients as more become insured.

Responding to the need for more health services for the medically underserved, NEVHC obtained $678,977 in funding from the Federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), to renovate and furnish the SCHC.

L.A. Care Health Plan, the largest local donor and the nation’s largest public health plan, has provided $300,000 in start-up and operating funding to benefit low-income and uninsured residents of Los Angeles County. Other significant donors include California Community Foundation, The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation and Kaiser Foundation Hospitals.

“At a time when more and more people are losing their jobs and their health insurance, ARRA and the generosity of local funders have enabled us to open a new health center and expand access to health care in Santa Clarita for low income and uninsured families,” said Kimberly Wyard, CEO of NEVHC.

As a non-profit Joint Commission accredited Federally Qualified Health Center, NEVHC’s SCHC has seven exam rooms, a pharmacy dispensary, counseling rooms, and a co-located Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program center. At full capacity, it is expected that 125 patients will walk through the doors of the SCHC each day. State Assemblymember Cameron Smyth, 38th District, will serve as Master of Ceremonies.

NEVHC provides health services at two SCV locations (the SCHC and the LAC-Valencia Health Center) and WIC services at four SCV locations in Newhall, Canyon Country, Santa Clarita and Valencia.

NEVHC is a private non-profit community health center that provides comprehensive health services to the medically uninsured and underserved residents of the San Fernando and Santa Clarita Valleys. Programs and services include Dental, Pharmacy, Radiology, Women’s Health and Prenatal Services, Pediatric Services, Immunizations, Case Management, Behavioral Health and the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Supplemental Nutrition Program.