(Published: Monday, January 11, 1999)

Members of the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors are making good on their promise to provide easily accessable community health care following the closure of the county hospital. People on the west side of Modesto will be the next to benefit.

Giving the county Health Services Agency $10,000 to begin planning, the supervisors signaled their intent to develop an outpatient clinic and community center similar to those in Hughson and Ceres. The centers provide civic as well as medical services. Hughson residents, for example, have a pharmacy, library, and community meeting hall in their center on Third Street. The west side is one of Modesto's oldest sections and is being revitalized through public and private efforts. The city provides housing rehabilitation services and a community police station, for example, while Save Mart has built a new supermarket on Paradise Road. Neighborhood groups, community associations, churches and individuals are making good progress in renewing the whole area and the board is to be commended for its action.

Reprinted by permission of Modesto Bee