Woodville Health Center to open in September

Woodville will soon get its first permanent health center thanks in part to a man who many in the community refer to as Dr. Jack Dhillon.

Jagjit Dhillon was a medical doctor in India, but has not obtained his medical license to practice in the United States. But that has not stopped him from wanting something better for the people of Woodville.

“This is a little Mexican town that seems to me very similar to India,” Dhillon said. “There’s a lot of poor people and farm laborers. I don’t have a license here, but I was trying to do something for them.”

When Dhillon heard that the Regional Medical Center, a division of Tulare Local Healthcare District, was looking for a home for a new health center, he did not hesitate to volunteer a plot of land at the intersection of Road 168 and Avenue 168 in Woodville.

The land sits adjacent to Dhillon’s mini-mart store.

Dhillon was a doctor in India, practicing Ayurvedic medicine, but went into rehabilitation practice in 1992.

“I have a daughter with cerebral palsy,” Dhillon said. “That inspired me to want to help the handicapped.”

Besides treating patients — particularly the poor —  Dhillon was instrumental in obtaining wheel chairs, walkers, canes, and other supplies for patients. In addition, the philanthropist also assisted Christian missionaries with free books and clothing that was distributed to the poor.

In 1999, Dhillon brought his daughter to America and ended up staying in Chicago as an assistant for a medical doctor. And because he had a pharmaceutical license, he worked in a pharmacy before moving to Porterville in 2001.

“I worked at Kaweah Delta District Hospital — working in dialysis there and here in Porterville at the Pearson [Drive] facility,” Dhillon said. “But then I started a small business and then this store.”

When people in town heard that he was a doctor, many would stop by for first-aid, said Harry Bains, who works at the store. “He’s always helping the community — talking to them. He’s very nice to everyone. People are always telling him they need a medical clinic here.”
Efforts to get the new clinic were set in motion a year ago, Dhillon said.

“People need services in this area. It’s going to be a general health clinic and should open in September,” he said. “It’s going to be great, not just for people here, but people from Plainview, Poplar and Tipton can come here. There’s a mobile unit that comes for a few hours every Wednesday, but that’s not enough. They needed a real clinic.”

A mobile unit has been a weekly, and as-needed, staple of Woodville’s health system, but residents said that having the clinic there sporadically is not enough.

The new fixed unit will have a central registration area and waiting room in the center, three primary exam rooms to one side and three rooms — two of which will be specialty exam rooms — to the other side, said Steve Debuskey, vice president of out-patient services with Tulare Regional Medical Center.

“We’ll start by opening with a limited schedule,” Debuskey said. “Our ultimate goal is to be open Monday through Friday and half a day on Saturday.”

Among the services offered will be primary care — family practice and pediatrics, and a limited amount of specialty care services as needed.

”We will have a physician assistant or nurse practitioner daily and a physician two to three times a week,” Debuskey said. “We have a pool of 24 specialists we can pull from who can see patients.”

Some of the specialized areas the Tulare Regional Medical Center deals with are skin disorders, stomach and intestinal tract studies, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, and orthopedics.

The clinic was originally scheduled to open on July 1, but delays in permits and other paperwork pushed it towards a September 1 opening date.

All forms of payments — MediCal, MediCare, insurance, and sliding fees — will be accepted, Debuskey said.

Lab studies will not be done on site, but blood can be drawn there. In addition, arrangements will be made for a mobile unit to travel to Woodville for chest and other X-rays — keeping patients from having to travel to Tulare or Porterville to receive the services.

The news was welcomed by Andrea Perez, principal/superintendent of Woodville Elementary School, just a block away from the proposed clinic.

With 550 elementary-age students at the school, Perez said many of the families travel 10 to 15 miles to the nearest clinic.

“But the problem is, there are so many people going there that there is not enough time to fit them all in,” Perez said. “Often times they can’t get to the appointments. This is wonderful. It’s going to provide care for the families. They can go in for vaccinations, physicals and preventative health care.”

Perez said that in May 2009 the school had to close because of the Swine flu outbreak.

“It was terrible. The nearby clinic was turning people away. Parents kept calling me, saying their children were deathly ill and that they couldn’t get in. They didn’t know what to do,” Perez said. “This will make health care more accessible. I’m excited about it and glad to have it.”

Residents of the approximate 2,000-population town also expressed relief when they learned of the clinic.

Amanda Medina, mother of five children, said the clinic is something Woodville has needed for a long time.

“I’ve lived here 32 yeas and I thought I’d never see a clinic come to town,” Medina said. “It’s definitely something that Woodville needs. A lot of the women here don’t drive. They have to take a bus to go to the clinic in [Porterville.] If they can walk there, it would be great. They can get [the children’s] immunizations there.”

Pedro Martinez, 66, a 45-year resident, said Woodville needs a lot of services but a health care clinic was definitely at the top of his list.

“Little by little we’ll get different things, but I’m glad we are getting this clinic. A lot of people really need it,” Martinez said.

Alberto Chavez, 40, agreed.

“This will be great for emergencies too,” Chavez said. “It may not be an emergency room but in case of a real emergency, people can rush there. It’s going to be wonderful for the community. There are a lot of people who cannot get to Porterville or Tulare for medical care. Here, people can walk and probably be out in a couple of hours. This is a service that the people have been asking for a very long time — better late than never.”