After touring the Center for Community Health, The largest primary health care center dedicated to the homeless in the Skid Row neighborhood of Los Angeles, Supervisor Hilda Solis presented them with a check for $851,000 to make renovations and repairs.
The check will also help extend hours of operation and expand specialized services to include dermatology, orthopedics and gastroenterology, among other specialties at this community health center.
In addition, by modernizing the infrastructure, the center’s capacity will increase to accommodate approximately 1,000 additional patients per year.
“It’s amazing to see how many medical facilities, labs and staff there are here. This is like a mini hospital. They’ve really done a great job and worked very hard to make health care accessible, and now they’re going to be able to see more patients,” said Supervisor Solis, whose District 1 in Los Angeles County represents the entire Skid Row area.
She noted that it is quite impressive that they serve more than 7,000 residents, so she called the staff unsung heroes and thanked them for keeping the clinic a safe place for homeless people.
“I am very pleased to partner with you and put this state government funding to work to help people transform lives.”
She said she was excited that the clinic serves different populations on Skid Row — seniors, adults, young people, trans, LGBTQ.
“A lot of this is due to the advocacy of you – the staff – who help us with your constant push to make sure homeless people have support and treatment.”
He said that unfortunately the fight will continue for a while and he certainly said that he does not want to see more people sent to jail.
“That doesn’t help us, it’s a never-ending cycle. It’s more about locating people where they can get help and reconcile with their communities and hopefully we can help serve as a bridge.”
Supervisor Solis said she wants to show the rest of the county what has been done, so that “people are not afraid to come here and understand that real transformation can happen.”
He Center for Community Health is the parent care system for JWCH Institute, Inc. on Skid Row and has been in operation since 2009. As of 2023, they served 6,757 patients.
Services offered include primary care, dental health, optometry, cardiology, behavioral health services, physician care, podiatry, substance use disorder and tuberculosis treatment, radiology, chiropractic care, HIV support services, hepatitis C treatment and more.
Al Ballesteros, President and CEO of JWCH Institute, Inc. She said the clinic was born 15 years ago out of the need in Skid Row to provide primary care, so they partnered with Los Angeles County and the Department of Public Health and the Department of Mental Health.
“We have tried to provide integrated and at-hand services.”
He added that Supervisor Solis’ motion known as the Skid Row Action Plan It contains a series of recommendations to improve and create more temporary housing, provide addiction treatment, seek medical care and create access to health care 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“Every night we have more services for people, not only medical care but also mental and dental health, and we are going to start offering specialties in cardiology, radiology, dermatology, x-rays and psychiatry.”
He revealed that they will also start a transportation program with mini vans, which will include stops designed during fixed hours.
“You may have noticed that the parking lot needs repairs, and we have air conditioners that haven’t been serviced in 15 years, and a lot of the maintenance has been put off because it’s too expensive for us.”
That’s why she said that the check that the supervisor gave them means a lot to them in solving all those problems.