WEST VALLEY CITY — For years, this fast-growing part of West Valley City where nearly 1 in 5 residents are uninsured has lacked a low-cost medical clinic.
For Miguel Mendoza, 62, that meant slight swelling in his eyes soon turned into painful bulging, redness and hard little bumps under his lower eyelids. Puffy and red, his eyes bulge from their sockets when he removes his sunglasses.
For years, Mendoza worked as a laborer in fruit orchards. He and his children moved to West Valley from Washington state a year ago "to look for more opportunities," said his daughter, Karina Mendoza.
When she saw the signs that her father’s lymphoma might be back, Karina Mendoza traveled across the Wasatch Front looking for a low-cost clinic that would refer him to a specialist. But because he was not a U.S. citizen, she said, clinics gave him eyedrops and said there was nothing they could — or would — do.
That was nearly a year ago.
This week, Miguel Mendoza became one of the first patients to be seen at the newly opened Community Health Centers clinic in the Ellis R. Shipp Public Health Center, 4535 S. 5600 West. And next week, for the first time since he began to go blind, Miguel Mendoza will see a specialist.
"They actually are doing something for him here," Karina Mendoza said.
Community Health Centers, which provides low-cost primary and preventive health care to people across the state, celebrated the opening of its eighth clinic with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday.
The clinic is moving into space in the Ellis R. Shipp Public Health Center that has been vacant for two years.
It will co-exist with the Salt Lake County Health Department clinic, offering primary and preventive care alongside the county clinic, which offers WIC and immunization services.
"It's an example of the government thinking smart," said Salt Lake County Health Department Executive Director Gary Edwards.
Edwards was joined at the ribbon-cutting by Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams and West Valley City Mayor Ron Bigelow.
Dr. Caryn Slack, a provider at the clinic, said she’s excited to be able to send mothers and children “across the hall” for WIC services. At her former practice in West Jordan, where she also served low-income or uninsured patients, she had to send them across the city.
“It’s a neighborhood that definitely needs a clinic,” Slack said.
In her first week, Slack already is seeing up to 17 patients a day. Eventually, the Ellis Shipp clinic is expected to serve 2,800 patients in the West Valley, Magna and Kearns area.
It’s an area that has some of the highest uninsured rates and worst health statistics in the state.
"This area has been a little bit forgotten," said Eugenia Araya Smith, the clinic's director. "Now having this location opens up a world of opportunities."
The eastern part of the city has the highest share of residents unable to afford health care in the entire state, with more than 28 percent of people reporting that they were unable to see a doctor in the past year because of cost. That's compared with a state average of about 15 percent.
In these same neighborhoods, rates of everything from adult obesity to diabetes-related deaths run two to three times as high as those in wealthier parts of the city.
And between 20 percent and 25 percent of residents report they are in "poor" or “fair” general health, rather than “good” or “very good.”
Community Health Centers clinics patients receive care regardless of income or legal status, Araya Smith explained. They pay discounted fees based on a sliding scale.
They also have access to the county's Health Access Project, a network of about 600 volunteer health care providers who provide low-cost hospital and specialist care.
For Miguel Mendoza, that means that he will pay $50 to see a specialist for his eyes next week.
Speaking through his daughter, who translated for him, Miguel Mendoza said he hoped the doctor could fix his eyes and rule out cancer. That way his son, Roberto, might not have to work two jobs — one to support his own young family, and another to support his aging father.
After a year of seeing her father suffer, Karina Mendoza felt a flood of relief when the Spanish-speaking doctor at the new clinic assured her father that he wasn't going to be turned away.
“He’s happy,” she said. “They told him he’ll finally get the help he needs.”
Email: dchen@deseretnews.com
Twitter: DaphneChen_