Riverbank Mayor Rachel Hernandez and members of the City Council issued a proclamation at the July 22 meeting designating Aug. 3 through 9 as National Health Center Week.
The event recognized the local Golden Valley Health Center with officials attending the meeting.
According to the city, National Health Center Week is an opportunity to highlight the commitment and passion of Community Health Center staff, board members, and supporters who make it possible to provide quality, comprehensive healthcare services to more than 32.5 million patients across nearly 16,000 communities annually across the country.
Golden Valley Health Centers is fully accredited, offering quality medical, dental, behavioral health, vision, urgent care and school-based health centers. They are able to provide these services because they are financed through federal funds, grants specifically for the care of low-income and homeless patients, insurance reimbursement for care, and donations.
With this funding, they have 45 health centers in Merced, Stanislaus, and San Joaquin counties.
Locally, the Golden Valley Health Center is located on the Riverbank High School campus.
In accepting the proclamation, a Golden Valley spokesperson noted that during the recent period of several weeks while Patterson Road was being resurfaced, her patrons had to travel to Modesto to be seen, unable to access the school site center here, and they didn’t enjoy the change.
In September 1972, Golden Valley Health Centers began as a small Migrant Health Services program connected to Merced General Hospital. Since that time, it has expanded to meet community needs across Merced, Stanislaus, and San Joaquin counties.
They are now serving nearly 150,000 patients each year through 45 clinical locations in the region. Early on it was clear that demand for primary care surpassed what the Center could provide out of the small clinic in Merced, and rapid expansion began.
Additional presentations at the meeting included one from Parks and Recreation Department Director Michael Patton, and from Riverbank Police Services Chief Ed Ridenour.
They reviewed for the council the structures of their departments and their budgets.
