Golden Valley Health Centers is expanding services they offer in Manteca.

The community-based health care organization is opening a second location at 350 Northgate Drive in May 29 that is near their current medical offices that have been serving patients for the past 1½ years.

Golden Valley will be adding dental and podiatry care and health education as well as expand medical and behavioral health care services.

Yamilet Valladolid, who serves as the manager of government affairs Golden Valley Health Centers, said the expansion was prompted by numerous requests of patients currently/ being served at the existing 250 Northgate Drive medical officers.

Golden Valley is filling a critical need in Manteca as few, if any, doctors are taking new Medi-Cal patients. That coupled with a shortage of medical care professionals in the Northern San Joaquin Valley have made it a struggle for many to readily secure health services.

Golden Valley accepts Medi-Cal, Medicaid, Covered California, and most private insurances. They also have a sliding scale of fees for patients without insurance coverage that is based on their income.

Valladolid talked about Golden Valley’s offerings, history, and how it brings affordable health care to the communities their serve during Thursday’s noon meeting of the Manteca Rotary Club at Ernie’s Rendezvous Room.

As a community-based health care organization it receives 30 percent of its funding from the federal government that allows it to offer sliding fees based on the ability for patients without insurance to pay for services. The balance of their funding comes from payment for services.

They also are able to attract physicians who can access a federal program to help them pay down student loans by agreeing to work for three to five of years for community-based health care organizations based in underserved areas in terms of available medical professionals. A number of their physicians stay on after their loans are paid off by the federal government including one doctor who has been on staff for more than 25 years.

Valladolid noted that nationally organizations such as Golden Valley are credited with reducing health care costs by $28 billion annually by serving people on government funded health plans or who do not have insurance to avoid going to emergency rooms for care when it is not a true emergency. That savings also factors in prevention and health education efforts.

She noted the three prompt care facilities Golden Valley operates in Merced, Turlock, and Modesto have an average cost of $215 to treat a patient as opposed to the average cost of $3,437 for an emergency room

Valladolid lauded the fact that California State University, Stanislaus in Turlock has just opened a nurse practioneer training program to help address the regional medical professional shortage. The program at CSUS will cost $32,000 to complete as opposed to $200,000 at Stanford University. She noted the University of California at Merced also intends to eventually establish a medical school.

Golden Valley has 37 locations that are all in Stanislaus and Merced counties except for the Manteca location. They also have a mobile homeless health care van funded by a grant that serves Modesto, Turlock and Patterson,

The community-based health care organization was launched 46 years ago in Merced.

The additional Manteca location will create 30 additional jobs.

Patients can schedule appointments by calling or texting 1.866.682.4842.

More information can be found at www.gvhc.org.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com