Above: Community representatives and Desert Oasis Healthcare staff were onsite Friday, March 18, 2016 for the official ribbon-cutting ceremony and open house in Coachella, Calif. (Image: Amanda Flores)
By: Amanda Flores
COACHELLA, Calif.—On Friday, the new Desert Oasis Healthcare center in Coachella held an open house for residents to meet the doctors and staff working in the facility.
Dr. Peter Hein, a family physician, and Gabrielle Schwilk, a family nurse practitioner who specializes in pediatric medicine, will be the main practitioners located in Coachella. Hein said he looks forward to working with families in the area.
“My job is to help provide medical care and establish a place for people to be comfortable to receive medical care in an environment that respects them, their culture, and the values of their community,” said Hein.
Desert Oasis Healthcare opened its first clinic in the eastern Coachella Valley earlier this month. (Image: Amanda Flores)
The Desert Oasis Healthcare center, located on Grapefruit Boulevard, opened earlier this month after a year and half of searching for a suitable space, according to Beverley Kay Estell, vice president of operations at Desert Oasis Healthcare.
“We are hoping the eastern Coachella Valley community will embrace this new clinic and utilize it very well,” said Estell.
Hein, who also worked with Clinicas de Salud del Pueblo, said he believes one of the biggest health concerns in the ECV is diabetes. He hopes residents will take advantage of upcoming health classes offered at the Coachella facility to better their health and the health of their families.
The new clinic has already started taking patients. The facility is located on 49-201 Grapefruit Blvd in Coachella. (Image: Amanda Flores)
Though Desert Oasis Healthcare has locations across the Coachella Valley, this is the first facility to open in the eastern Coachella Valley. Coachella, with an estimated population of 44,132, has been designated a medically underserved area since 1995, according to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. The new center will help bring much-needed services and health classes to the community.
The healthcare center is located at 49-201 Grapefruit Blvd in Coachella and is open Monday-Friday from 8:00a.m-5:00p.m. For more information on the center and upcoming health classes, call (760) 320-5134.
About the author:
Amanda Flores, 15, is a lifelong Coachella resident. She joined Coachella Unincorporated last year and has already written several articles on community health and farmworker services. After high school, Amanda said she wants to study law or medicine. View Amanda‘s author page here.
