Volunteers to Build Restroom at Clinic

Hoping to fill a void in the West Valley for affordable health services, Columbus Middle School is gearing up to be a place for low-income and uninsured families to get immunizations, medical treatment and counseling.

Organizers got a little closer to their goal this week as the construction services team from Kaiser Permanente Health Center in Woodland Hills volunteered its time to build a restroom in the facility.

Since the closure of a Los Angeles County free health clinic in Canoga Park two years ago, residents of the West Valley have been referred for service to the northeast Valley.

“In terms of going to a clinic, they’d have to go to Pacoima, where they’d often take a bus, which could take hours, and miss a day’s work to get services,” said Los Angeles Unified School District nurse Janis Lake, who will operate the clinic.

Located on the southeast side of the middle school campus, the LAUSD health center now provides health screenings, some immunizations and tests for tuberculosis for children at 10 campuses in Canoga Park.

With the addition of the restroom and the planned refurbishments, the center will be able to open its doors daily to the whole community, offering physical exams, medical treatment and counseling services.

Physicians from the Center for a Healthy Community--a sister organization to the northeast Valley’s El Projecto del Barrio--will volunteer their services two afternoons a week to start, officials said.

Once the building is complete in December, the agency will provide medicine and treatment for illnesses that would normally keep children out of school, including influenza and head lice.

Kaiser officials said they decided to become involved with the new program after searching for a West Valley health clinic to support financially and finding none.

“We were so excited to see that a school was organizing itself as a hub of the community,” said Linda Quon, Kaiser’s community relations director.

By donating the materials and labor to build the restroom, Kaiser has given the school district the ability to save grant funding--approximately $30,000--and use it to provide services, school officials said.