Health clinic to open at Poway site

A health care center that will provide care for low-income residents in Poway and surrounding communities is close to raising the $3 million needed for construction, which is expected to begin this spring.

Officials with the non-profit Neighborhood Healthcare of Escondido announced this week that over the past five years they have received donations totaling $2.4 million to construct what will become known as the Gold Family Health Center.

The facility will be built on a vacant piece of property on Poway Road next door to the Salvation Army thrift store. The property was once home to a Wendy’s restaurant which burned to the ground in 2004.

In 2010, Neighborhood Healthcare purchased the land for $1.2 million with help from a donation by Alan and Debbie Gold. Since then donations from more than 250 people and organizations have come in. It is hoped the facility will be completed by this coming winter.

The project is supported by numerous businesses and service organizations.

Danny Sherlock, president/CEO of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater San Diego wrote in support:

“Poway is one of the few local cities without a community health center, though nearly 5,000 local children qualify for school lunch, hundreds of households receive food stamps, and there are many pockets of poverty – both visible and less visible. Many parents do not have a local doctor who will care for their child, especially in light of the reduction of available private health care providers willing to accommodate individuals and families with public health insurance. As a result, parents take their children to the local emergency room which is a costly and ineffective way to provide primary care.”

The project still needs to raise $600,000 to reach it’s $3 million goal. Several charity events are scheduled soon to help raise some of those funds and anybody who would like to contribute can do so by going to www.nhcare.org on the Web.

“This success was possible due to very generous supporters and our dedicated team of volunteers,” said Neighborhood Healthcare’s CEO Tracy Ream in a news release. “They educated people about the critical need to have a community health center in the Poway area and asked their friends and others to join them in contributing to the health center.

“We are especially grateful to Alan and Debbie Gold,” Ream said, “who have invested in Neighborhood Healthcare’s growth for over a decade It was their vision to bring a community health center to Poway. They helped us purchase the land and raise needed funds. Alan’s parents lived in Poway for more than 50 years and the center will honor the memory of Martin and Delia Gold.”