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February 18,2014In a scramble to serve areas of the county that historically have had few options for medical care, activity is brisk.
New clinics underway include 2 facilities in Dinuba, in Tulare, 2 in Earlimart, 1 in Richgrove, 2 in Woodville and in Terra Bella in the south part of the county spearheaded by area non-profits or hospital organizations.
Already, Federally Qualified Health Clinic – Family HealthCare Network (FHCN) has 14 clinics scattered across Tulare County with one each in Fresno and Kings Counties.The organization recently opened a new school-based clinic in Terra Bella, the first in this low income community.
Now another non-profit – Tulare Community Health Clinic is building a clinic in Woodville a town already targeted by Tulare Regional Medical Center (TRMC) for a rural health clinic. TRMC is also building is a rural clinic in Earlimart.
Visalia-based Kaweah Delta is building a new rural clinic in Dinuba that is expected to open later this year. Adventist Health already has a new rural clinic in the community and there is also a non-profit, Alta Healthcare Clinic – there for years.
In Lindsay,TRMC,Kaweah Delta and others have clinics in town.
Back in Visalia,Kaweah Delta was shot down by the state late last year on their application to build a rural health clinic in the community because, the state said, Visalia no longer qualified as rural.
Still Kaweah Delta has rural clinic in Woodlake,Exeter and Lindsay where resident physicians under their new Graduate Medical Education program will practice.
Looking to cover territory not far from Kern County, Delano Regional Medical Center has contacted Tulare County saying they want to build 2 hospital-affiliated rural clinics in Earlimart and Richgrove.
“Certainly the Affordable Care Act is a big driver to expanding primary care” says FHCN president Kerry Hydash. ”Any time we can bring in more primary care physicians to the area – the better.“
She says the difference is that FHCN serves people without insurance and rural health clinics do not.”My opinion is that all the health care providers need to work together.”
Historically,Tulare County has more of its population in the MediCal program than any other county in the state but those patients have had a hard time finding doctors who accept the insurance.There are already too few physicians to serve the insured population say sources.In 2011 Tulare County was 44th out of 58 counties in physicians per population.
Hydash adds that hospitals gain from more primary care options since it does not clog up their emergency rooms. People who get primary care are less likely to show up at an ER deathly sick.
FHCN has been expanding too adding pharmacies and dental services to some of their clinic sites.
In Visalia FHCN is under construction on their new Oak St complex but Hydash says unlike earlier plans,they are keeping their Bridge St office open for same day visits.