It used to take Jacquelyn MaGee at least an hour to get to medical services less than five miles away.

She and her four children would walk from their west Modesto home to a bus stop. They'd catch a bus downtown. There, they'd wait for another bus to take them to a Scenic Drive clinic or their doctor's office on McHenry Avenue.

Starting Monday, MaGee and her children won't have to make the journey. The Stanislaus County Health Services Agency is opening a clinic on Paradise Road, a 20-minute walk from the family's home.

"Now, I don't have to worry about if I'm going to make it on time," MaGee said.

Called the West Modesto Community Center, the 27,000-square-foot building also will house other county services, including welfare, probation, behavioral health and offices where people can search for jobs and learn to read. The clinic takes up about one-third of the space.

The $4.8 million center is more than a building to west Modesto residents, who have complained for decades about a lack of medical care in the area.

"It gives the community a sense of saying, 'Finally, we are part of something,'" said Helen White of the West Modesto-King Kennedy Neighborhood Collaborative.

Cut off from care

People who live in west Modesto have worried about access to doctors and hospitals for at least 30 years, White said. Some tell her of long walks and bus rides to the nearest clinics, such as Golden Valley on Sixth Street and the Medical Arts building downtown.

Others worry about getting to one of Modesto's two hospitals in emergencies. Trains often stop traffic downtown, cutting off west Modesto from easy access to Doctors and Memorial medical centers.

These concerns surfaced twice in the early 1990s, when residents were surveyed about their needs. That's when Health Services Agency officials started working with community groups and met with residents.

"We looked at what do we need as a community to improve the lives of our families and children," said Cle Moore, an associate director of the Health Services Agency.

The process took years, she said, and became more pressing when the county announced that it would close its hospital in 1997. County supervisors then met with west Modesto residents, who again said they worried about medical care.

Center offerings

The new community center is the result. It will include many things that residents said were important to them, including:

• ACCESSIBLE AND AFFORDABLE HEALTH CARE FOR FAMILIES -- The clinic, called the Paradise Medical Office, will treat children and adults, including pregnant women. It will accept most major insurance plans, including Medi-Cal. Counselors also will be on hand to help people who don't have health insurance sign up for plans.
• WORKERS WHO LIVE IN WEST MODESTO -- Four of the medical clinic's seven staff members live in the area.
• BILINGUAL DOCTORS AND NUR-SES -- Every clinic employee speaks a second language, such as Spanish, Cambodian or Laotian.
• CONFIDENTIAL FAMILY PLANNING SERVICES FOR TEEN-AGERS -- Starting next month, specially trained teens will be available to counsel other teens on birth control, abstinence and other issues. This is a new program. Doctors and nurses will conduct exams.
• PARENTING HELP -- The building houses an outpost of the county's Women, Infants and Children program, which provides nutrition education and food vouchers for pregnant women and mothers of children 5 and younger.
• COUNSELING -- County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services has an office in the building, and a children's counselor will be stationed there. Workers there also will help adults get counseling for emotional issues and alcohol and drug problems.
• AMBULANCE -- Starting this summer, an American Medical Response ambulance will be stationed at the center.

The clinic will not handle emergency care, though. Residents must still go to a hospital.

And clinic hours will be limited, at least for now. The clinic will be open only on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays until officials hire more people, including a third doctor.

The clinic has a laboratory so patients won't have to go elsewhere to have blood drawn. Immunizations will be offered there. Staff members will be prepared to care for people with some chronic medical conditions, like heart problems, diabetes and hypertension.

Another highlight: the artwork in the waiting room. Children from west Modesto schools drew and painted colorful pictures to decorate the space.

"The community has their fingerprints all over it," said Kathy Kohrman, interim director of the Health Services Agency. "It's theirs."

To make an appointment at the new clinic, call 558-4000.

Reprinted by permission of Modesto Bee