OAKHURST — Camarena Health now plans to open its new urgent care clinic in Oakhurst sometime in October, according to an update provided Wednesday by the organization’s CEO.
“Our contractor is actually calling for inspections today and we hope to have a certificate of occupancy in the next few days. That will allow us to begin the licensing process with the State and we should be open in mid-October,” said Camarena CEO Paulo Soares.
“I’m hoping by the end of this month we will have a hard date for our first day of operations,” Soares added.
Earlier this year, organization officials said the new urgent care clinic might be ready in time for an August debut.
The interior (on Aug. 14) of Camarena Health’s new urgent care clinic, which is now expected to open in Oakhurst later this fall.
Camarena is remodeling the old Sierra Star building (at 49169 Road 426) next to its existing Oakhurst Health Center. The new urgent care clinic will include X-ray services and is expected to be open seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Camarena accepts all types of insurance, including Medi-Cal and Medicare — and as a federally funded community health center, must treat all patients, regardless of their ability to pay.
The Madera-based nonprofit currently operates 12 clinics, offering primary care medical, behavioral and dental services at locations in Oakhurst, Coarsegold, Madera, and Chowchilla.
In October, Camarena also plans to debut a new mobile health/dental clinic in eastern Madera County.
The specially-equipped mobile unit will be traveling throughout rural Madera County providing medical, dental, and behavioral health care to low-income families.
The project, funded by a $550,000 grant from Kaiser Permanente, will also begin in October, says CEO Soares.
The new mobile unit also will provide health education and insurance enrollment services.
“We know there is limited access to health care in rural Madera County and we wanted to make sure there was a way for families to receive these much-needed services,” says Wade Nogy, Kaiser Permanente of Fresno’s senior vice president and area manager.
As many as 1,800 low-income adults and 1,200 elementary and middle school students are expected to receive services from the mobile unit.
