"Without LA Care's initial start -up funding, Antelope Valley's Health Leadership may have never realized its dream to greatly expand primary care health services to this vastly underserved community which even today has some of the poorest health indicators in all of LA County."
As Antelope Valley Community Clinic (AVCC) CEO, I have worked closely with L.A. Care since 2007 when we first incorporated the clinic. Thanks to L.A. Care's grant of $500,000, we opened the first community health center and look alike federally qualified health center in the in the Antelope Valley. Since then, we have worked closely with L.A. Care to provide clinical services for 35,000 LA County Medi-Cal and uninsured residents. Last year, AVCC provided more than 100,000 visits, including primary care, mental health, and dental services, as well as specialty visits for endocrinology, podiatry, dermatology, cardiology and infectious diseases. In addition to the original grant, LA Care has provided almost annual grants to expand services including dental, mental health and substance abuse programs. In just about 10 years from the date of incorporation, AVCC has gone from one mobile clinic with five employees and 3,200 visits, to four clinics and 100,000 visits with 230 employees and 34 providers. Without L.A. Care, none of this would be possible.