Eureka Community Health Center continued from last page
ECHC patient, Shari Marchesi, displays her art therapy project
financial or transportation barriers.” Through the generosity and perseverance of Sister Ann McGuinn, St. Joseph Hospital let Open Door use a building they owned on Harrison Avenue and the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange provided a $35,000 grant. “That was huge money, and with the building, it was enough for us launch the Eureka clinic,” reports Spetzler. “We were able to begin offering a full range of family practice services to a mostly low-income population. We hired two physicians, Ellen Weiss and Nathan Copple, who are still with Open Door, although working at different clinics. We started providing dental services in 1992. We’ve now consolidated our dental services at the Burre Dental Center on Myrtle Avenue in Eureka. It took a few years, but we were able to purchase the current ECHC clinic location on Buhne so that we would further expand access for medical care.
Eureka Community Health Center (ECHC) now provides more than 20,000 medical and behavioral health visits to nearly 5,500 patients each year. Under the leadership of the corporation’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Willard “Bill” Hunter, ECHC is transforming health care delivery. “We are making a real shift in how we provide care, and it is a direction that makes sense to our providers, staff and patients here at ECHC. We’re moving from the idea of doctors as ‘all-knowing-experts-in-everything’ to a team approach model. The goal is that we work together – patients included – to coordinate the care that best meets our patients’ health needs. We get the best results through a team approach, and here at ECHC we have fully evolved teams, with physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, behavioral health specialists, nurses and medical assistants all contributing to care. The medical providers organize the teams and order all required health screenings and provide direct treatment. Nurses focus on effective case management and medical assistants maintain the patient flow – and we talk to each other about what we’ve
6 OPEN DOOR COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTERS SPECIAL SECTION • THURSDAY, JULY 28, 2011
seen and what we think the patient the organization. “My primary focus needs. This model is the best way we is increasing the quality of the care know to put patient’s needs at the our system provides. The model for center of health care delivery. We’ve ‘medical homes’ isn’t one we creliterally rearated; rather, ranged our we are takwork stations ing the idea so that the and making entire team it our own is in constant to best suit communithe needs of cation. We our patients. know each With our long other’s patradition of tients; we collaboration can maintain with other the continuproviders and ity of care. specialists We’ve seen a in our comtremendous munity and Medical Assistant Ashley Chiu-Marvel expansion of the region we & Family Physician/Psychiatrist access and a can coordiDavid Villasenor positive renate the full sponse from range of care our patients,” our patients explains Dr. Hunter. need,” concludes Dr. Hunter. “Most health care studies show that if we provide better primary PROMOTING care, the kind of care we provide at COMMUNITY ECHC, then the outcomes for our patients will be better across the board, WELLNESS improving long-term health while David Villasenor, MD, joined the reducing costs to patients, insurers ECHC team in August 2010, right and government programs,” notes Dr. out of his medical residency at the Hunter. “The model of the ‘medical University of California, San Diego’s home’ is an updated way to promote combined Family Practice/Psychiatry primary care. As a medical home, we program. He has a unique combinastrive to be available to our patients tion of skills, particularly for a rural when they need to be seen and get community health center and that them the care they need when they is just what Dr. Villasenor wanted to need it, including coordinating with offer. He considered his career oplocal and regional specialists. We tions carefully and decided ECHC was try to see our patients the day they the place where he could best apply call.” Dr. Hunter spends half his time his skills. “This job is what I hoped seeing his patients at ECHC and the for,” says Dr. Villasenor. “The clinic other half as Chief Medical Officer for has strong leadership, wonderful