Low-Income Health Clinic Shows Off New Building

A health clinic that serves at least 10,000 low-income, uninsured people a year held an open house ceremony Friday attended by officials and local residents.

The San Fernando Health Clinic showed off a building that opened in November, said Helen Arriola, a spokeswoman for the Northeast Valley Health Corp.

“It will help us see patients in a faster, more efficient way,” Arriola said. “The open house is for the community to see what’s new--just to show them we are there and better equipped to take all those new patients.”

The nonprofit organization, which works in partnership with Los Angeles County, paid for the building with a $1.2-million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and $300,000 in private donations, she said.

The complex’s second building, which was damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake, was refurbished in a Southwestern style with 12 examination rooms, a special procedures room and two patient reception areas, Arriola said.

A colonnade connects the center’s two buildings with a park area that includes drought-resistant shrubs and plants and an enclosed, padded play area for children.