Los Angeles Valley College has decided to partner with Valley Community Healthcare to run its Student Health Center, located on its Valley Glen campus. Previously, the 3,100-square-foot center was run by Valley Presbyterian Hospital. “Valley Presbyterian was in its last year of the contract and the college under the public contract code did an informal Request for Proposal (RFP). Valley Community Healthcare’s proposal was the lowest and best value,” Mike Lee, vice president of administrative services at L.A. Valley College, said in an email to the Business Journal. Officials from both entities, as well as representatives from the offices of Assemblymember Adrin Nazarian and Sen. Bob Hertzberg, attended a grand opening for the center on Sept. 13. Congressman Tony Cardenas was the event’s keynote speaker. The center is the fourth site to open under VCH, the organization said. Other sites are in North Hollywood, North Hills and Granada Hills. It will now serve 27,000 students for the fall semester. VCH is a nonprofit that provides health services in the Valley particularly to the financially challenged. It will operate the facility under a partnership with the college. The center offers students primary care, sick visits, immunizations, family planning, health education and behavioral health services. The center also offers eligibility screenings for insurance coverage under Med-Cal, Medicare, My Health LS Family Pact and other plans. “Our vision for the services provided was to go beyond basic student health services and provide greater access to primary care, (health) screenings, and to offer on-site insurance screenings and robust health education and outreach,” said Susan Dion, vice president of school and community services at VCH. “In addition, we’re providing a mental health service program through workforce development, where psychology interns are being supervised and trained right on the site.” “What we’re really seeing and hearing is young people coming in that don’t really know if they have insurance or not, and they usually don’t,” added Paula Wilson, chief executive of VCH. “We can help them enroll, and if they qualify for any of the programs we have, or we refer them. We’re kind of helping them with a life skill.” Roughly 16 students have visited the center for primary care each day since opening. The cost of visits to the center are paid from students’ health fee paid each semester.
