Clinic Dispenses Books Along With Health Care

At a clinic in Van Nuys, visits to the pediatrician don’t end with a lollipop. Instead, children leave with a book.

The Pediatric Health and WIC Center gives away about a dozen books per day to keep its young patients busy in the waiting room and encourage their parents to read to them at home.

Located in a shopping center, the clinic serves low-income and uninsured families. Most receive assistance from the federal Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, known as WIC.

The clinic’s four doctors and three nurses see about 1,300 children each year, most younger than 12.

The nonprofit organization that runs the clinic, Northeast Valley Health Corp., has asked the Los Angeles Times Family Fund for $5,000, or enough money to buy about 2,000 discounted children’s books through the national Reach Out and Read program.

At the Van Nuys clinic, volunteers even read to children waiting to see the doctors.

“It keeps the kids busy instead of watching a video or running around. It’s magical,” said Toni Plume, development director for the nonprofit group.

Once in the examining room, children up to 5 years old who are getting a checkup can select a book to take home. Because 84% of the patients are Latino, several titles are available in Spanish. The pediatrician also watches the child’s reaction to the book to determine how he or she is developing.

“If the baby puts the book right up to their face, they need to be screened for an eye exam,” Plume said.

The program exists because books, like health care, improve children’s lives, she said. Research has found that children who are read to in their early years are more likely to learn to read on schedule.

“They’ll become better students and better adults, and it will have a ripple effect,” she said.

In addition to seeking money for books, the literacy program is looking for volunteer readers, particularly those who can read Spanish.

With a $24-million budget funded by grants and government contracts, Northeast Valley Health Corp. runs primary-care clinics in Pacoima, San Fernando, Van Nuys, Canoga Park and Valencia. It also operates clinics for the homeless and those with HIV. Three other clinics serve students at Maclay Middle School and San Fernando High School, both in Pacoima, and Los Angeles Mission College in Sylmar. Last year, the corporation’s 10 sites provided health care to more than 43,000 patients.

The Times is highlighting local programs that serve youths and families in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties as part of its holiday campaign to help raise money for worthy causes.

The campaign is part of the Los Angeles Times Family Fund, which includes the long-running summer camp program. The McCormick Tribune Foundation will match the first $500,000 in donations at 50 cents on the dollar, and The Times will absorb all administrative costs. Feb. 1 is the deadline for nonprofit agencies to apply for grants.

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