Golden Valley Health Centers celebrates 50 years in Merced

Golden Valley Health Centers celebrated 50 years of service to Merced County with an open house at Northview Health Center in Merced Thursday evening.

The event brought together Golden Valley Health Centers CEO Tony Weber and Chairman of the Board, John Price, along with other board members, donors, employees and local dignitaries .

“It all started in Merced County 50 years ago,” Weber said. “We have been providing quality care to residents of Merced County for a long, long time, especially over the past two years.”

“We are honored to be here for 50 years, to serve our communities and to receive the support that we provide,” added Weber.

Golden Valley Health Centers began as Merced Family Health Centers in a single-exam room clinic on the south side of Merced.

“One of the driving forces behind Golden Valley Health Centers since day one in 1972 was to ensure health care could be accessible to everyone,” said Price, who served on the board for 36 years. . “It started as a migrant farm worker health care program and then grew and evolved into the Federal Qualified Health Center that it is today.”

Today, 44 clinics span Merced, Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties. Merced Family Health Centers changed its name to Golden Valley Health Centers in 1990 as they continued to expand.

Golden Valley health centers now serve 175,000 patients. According to Price, 10% of Merced County residents are Golden Valley Health Center patients.

“It’s a big deal,” Price said. “We are proud of the impact we have had on our counties’ health outcomes.”

Assemblyman Adam Gray presented Weber and Price with a certificate of recognition for the work done in Merced County at the event.

The Merced Hispanic Chamber of Commerce also presented an award to Weber and Price for years of service to Golden Valley Health Centers.

Tours of the Northview Health Center, which opened two years ago, were also available for guests during the event.

“We’ve had a significant lack of health care in our community for a long time, so anything we can do to improve that, especially during this time, is important,” Merced County Supervisor Josh Pedrozo said. “Now we’ve really shown the need for services, mental health services, pharmacies, everything here is really important.”

Center director Rhianna Castro says she can see the impact Golden Valley Health Center has had on Merced. She sees it when she is in the community and meets patients.

“It’s amazing to be in such a small community and to know that we’re having this impact,” Castro said. “We are here and we are available. Especially right now in the time of COVID, it’s tough, but our doors are open and we’re doing everything we can behind the scenes to make sure all of our patients are seen and taken care of.

“I see the outreach we’re doing in the community,” she added. “I see the hundreds of COVID tests we do per day. We are able to get those answers so people can get back to work.

Weber said the clinics and centers have been instrumental for Merced County during the pandemic.

“We were at the forefront of setting up drive-thru testing clinics before anyone else, we were ahead of testing and vaccination programs,” Weber said.

Price said Golden Valley Health Centers’ mission statement hasn’t changed in 50 years.

“Our mission is to provide quality health care services to people in the communities we serve, regardless of language, financial or cultural barriers,” Price said. “That’s our mission statement and 50 years later, it’s still true. This is who we are, this is who we were day one and this is who we are now.

This story was originally published January 21, 2022 12:22 p.m.