Wednesday, December 8th, United Health Centers of the San Joaquin Valley’s (UHC) President and CEO, Colleen Curtis, cut the grand opening ribbon for their 313 W. Shaw, Clovis CA location.
Representatives for U.S. Senator Feinstein, U.S. Senator Padilla, and State Senator Borgeas presented UHC certificates recognizing this location’s opening in the pre-ceremony event emceed by KMPH’s Monty Torres.
UHC’s mission is to provide comprehensive, quality healthcare to everyone. This will be their twenty-fifth location and their second in the Clovis area. It will offer medical and dental services to low-income clients with a sliding fee based on client income categories.
Their goal with this particular location is easier access for those in the surrounding area, as Curtis says “fifty-one percent of the valley is Medi-Cal eligible.”
Firstly by providing a local health center, secondly by offering as many services as possible in one facility, and thirdly by helping the community navigate their healthcare. They even provide transportation to their facilities.
The facility boasts a wall of windows at its entrance, leading into a spacious reception area decorated with white and gold balloon arches. The building is built in an intuitive u-shape, the door to the right of reception leads you to provider offices, patient rooms, and lab processing areas for the medical services they offer.
Dental service chairs sit along the last arm of the ‘U,’ to the door exiting left of reception.
They plan to continue this effort by opening another eight locations across Fresno, Hanford, Visalia, and Tulare over the next two years. The next grand opening is slated to be on Kings Canyon and Minnewawa.
The attendees were abuzz pre-ceremony, with members of the Clovis East High School Orchestra playing a mix of classical music and instrumental holiday tunes. Uplift Balloon Events provided festive blue balloon arches along the top of UHC’s information booths and towers of balloons flanking either side of the glass entrance to the facility. The smell of birria and chile verde wafted from Garza Catering’s mobile station as they prepared the post-ceremony lunch.
Clovis East was also represented by their Air Force JROTC, who presented colors while the alma mater’s wind ensemble played the national anthem.
Clovis Mayor Jose Flores worked with UHC in college to provide services in rural Fresno. Flores believes that the UHC brand is already well known and trusted by the local community.
“The healthier we are, the better we are,” says Flores.
He mentioned that COVID hit the local Hispanic community especially hard. Quality healthcare is key in preventing comorbidities and protecting Clovis’ most vulnerable populations: school-age children and the elderly.
Executive Director of Valley Caregiver Resource Center and member of the Clovis Chamber of Commerce, Michelle DiBuduo joined to support the board and celebrate the opening.
“We’re grateful to have them open up here. Have these services provided to the community, the information, and the availability.”
To find a UHC facility near you or for assistance in enrolling in Medi-Cal visit their website at unitedhealthcenters.org.