Westside Family Health Center Celebrates New Facility

By Lily Tinoco | Reporter 

Westside Family Health Center opened the doors of its new flagship facility on Wednesday, April 1, in Culver City—expanding from its Ocean Park Boulevard location of 46 years.

Palisadian Celia Bernstein, director of development at WFHC, shared that she has served in this role for nearly 10 years.

“I was hired to help us find a new building, and it is one of the high points of my professional life that we succeeded in doing so,” Bernstein said. “It took 10 years to build the relationships, raise the funds and locate the right building.”

The three-story site on Sepulveda Boulevard features 12,000 square feet of clinic and administrative space, 24 exam rooms and six consultation rooms. This expansion will allow WFHC to treat double the amount of patients they serve each year, according to a press release.

“We are deeply thrilled to have accomplished our longtime goal of a new site and look forward to welcoming the community to our beautiful new facility,” Debra Farmer, president and CEO of WFHC, said in a statement.

The new health center has extended its range of services, offering family practice services, pediatrics, prenatal and reproductive health services, flu shots, and immunizations. In the coming months, WFHC will also offer dental and vision services.

WFHC has long provided services to Palisadians, including reproductive health services through its Medical Mobile Unit at Palisades Charter High School. The mobile unit is a two-exam room clinic on wheels that offers health services at local high schools.

Bernstein shared that WFHC had conducted its Mobile Creating Awareness in Teens program for four years at Pali High up until the campus closure in March, providing reproductive health services and sexual health education. These services will resume when the school opens again.

As an essential business, WFHC will remain open during the COVID-19 pandemic. Team members are wearing masks and being screened every day. Patients are also being screened for fever or other symptoms upon entering, and will not be allowed entry if they exhibit virus symptoms.

WFHC will help those who present symptoms navigate the next steps over the phone, including self-isolating, wearing a mask and sterilizing techniques.

Bernstein added WFHC currently does not have the COVID-19 test and is not sure when that service would be available.

WFHC was founded in 1974 as a women’s health center and has since expanded into a federally qualified health center with four satellite sites, mobile medical unit and an operating budget of $5 million. Its mission is to provide, “comprehensive, high-quality, cost-effective health care in an educational and supportive environment,” according to its website.

WFHC accepts Medi-Cal, Medicare, FPACT, MHLA and other health insurances offered by Covered California.