Family HealthCare Network marks 35th year

Family HealthCare Network, a federally qualified health center, is proud to be celebrating 35 years of medical service to the Tulare and Kings county communities. Our growth out of the desire of a small group of dedicated, community minded people to address a lack of access to medical services for a largely Spanish-speaking farmworker population in Porterville and Woodlake, to the present day Network, has been nothing short of remarkable.

“United Health Organization,” established in 1976, was designed and developed to address the enormous disparities these visionaries recognized in access to medical care. With an infant mortality for that population at three times the national and state rates, 14.8 deaths for every 1,000 people, they realized that something needed to be done immediately.

What would eventually become Family HealthCare Network had its beginnings in a two-room house in Porterville with an initial state contract for $130,000 from the Department of Health Services. The board of directors hired a full-time physician to see patients in Porterville and at a small clinical site in Woodlake. In 1978, a decision was made to divide the fledgling corporation into two independent medical centers and establish Porterville Family Health, Inc. and Woodlake Health Center.

Porterville Family Health outgrew its location, adding two additional providers to the staff and expanded into the old Highway 190 Market which was renovated and transformed into a clinic with six exam rooms, a reception area and some offices. Growth and demand continued and eventually the Porterville location became a building with 53 examination rooms and six rooms for dental care.

It was obvious to the Board that their vision for community care worked and the decision was made to bring their model into other communities with need. Ivanhoe was selected based on its population and limited access to care.  It was followed over the years by sites in Visalia, Woodlake, Cutler-Orosi, Springville, Three Rivers, Goshen and Hanford. In the near future, Farmersville will also benefit from a clinical site. Shortly after opening the Visalia location, the organization was renamed Family HealthCare Network. It has remained our goal to deliver quality health care to all people in the communities we serve, treating the whole person with skill, respect and dignity, in a culturally sensitive way.  

In 1997, the Network became “the” freestanding ambulatory care organization in Tulare and Kings Counties to be accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, and remains the only such organization even today.

In April 2010, Family HealthCare Network received its fifth reaccreditation. Additionally, we are recognized as one of only 13 organizations of over 8,000 community health centers as a “Best Practices Organization.”

Thanks to strong, dedicated and consistent leadership by the board and the resolve of our staff, we have made and continue to make much progress. The work is not over and continues due to the socio-economic and cultural demographics of our service area, making clear that the driving goal of FHCN is to produce a positive difference in people’s lives.

Now, one of the largest employers in Tulare County, generating almost $2.4 billion in economic benefits yearly, FHCN occupies a lead position in the community.  We now serve more than 146,000 active patients, providing over 486,000 patient visits annually regardless of the ability of patients to pay.  With over 100 professional employees and 600 support staff, we remain steadfast to fulfill our mission.  

As we look toward the future, we are in the process of transforming our medical services to become a “Patient Centered Health Home” providing a greater scope of preventive health services, concentrating on maintaining the health of the community and the individual in a way that decreases the need for periodic sick care. As always, we want to honor our patient community and treat them with culturally sensitive respect, dignity and care.

Harry Foster is CEO of Family HealthCare Network.