NVIH OPENS NEW HEALTH CENTER
Northern Valley Indian Health celebrates second location within city
Northern Valley Indian Health celebrated the opening of its new medical and behavioral health center with a ceremonial ribbon cutting out front the new location.
On Tuesday, CEO of Northern Valley Indian Health (NVIH) Inder Wadhwa welcomed the public to the new health center location after an opening prayer and ceremonial song was performed by Charlie Wright, chairman of the Kletsel Dehe Wintun Nation.
“I’m so honored and blessed to welcome you all here to this beautiful new building,” Wadhwa said. “Northern Valley Indian Health is currently celebrating its 50th year of existence.”
NVIH was founded in 1971 by a group of Northern California American Indians looking to reestablish health services for Indians in California, according to its website. The private, nonprofit tribal corporation focuses on maintaining an effective and efficient healthcare system to Native Americans and all community members.
“We are primarily a Native American clinic,” Wadhwa stated. “We are represented by four different tribes in this organization. They are the Grindstone Tribe, Kletsel Dehe Tribe, Mechoopda Tribe and the Yocha Dehe Tribe of Yolo County.”
The new NVIH center — located at 1280 E. Gibson Road in Woodland — is the second location in Woodland and the seventh clinic overall for the organization. With almost 375 staff members working to support the clinics, NVIH also offers clinics in Willows, Chico and Red Bluff. They also support a mobile dental clinic which provides dental services for children 0-12 years of age and pregnant women.
Wadhwa noted that dental services at the Woodland Dental Clinic — located at 175 W. Court Street — will still be available at that location. The new location, however, expands upon those services by offering a medical facility, behavioral health, community outreach and an administration presence.
“The new building is an 80,000-sqaure-foot shell,” Wadhwa explained. “We have built only 20,000 of it. We hope that, very soon, we can build all 80,000 in maybe five to 10 years. We have the potential to grow here.”
Wadhwa emphasized that NVIH welcomes all community members and provides medical and dental treatment to adults and children of all ages.
“We serve not only natives, but everyone in the community. Over 60% of the patients are nonnative members,” Wadhwa said.
A small health fair was also set up in the parking lot with different booths and stalls representing different healthcare organizations and programs found around the area.
NVIH also offered COVID-19 shots and boosters following the completion of the ceremony. The new center offers the COVID-19 vaccine and booster doses by appointment. They are also offering the youth doses for children 5-11.
Those interested in receiving the COVID-19 shot from NVIH can register at their website at https://nvih.org/covid-19. Service areas include Butte, Glenn, Tehama, Colusa and Yolo counties.
“We want to promote immunization here,” Wadhwa concluded. “Our goal is to give the best possible care to native and nonnatives in the area.”