New health center for gay South LA



Kevin Tsukii

The new Gleicher / Chen Health Center is located at 3743 S. La Brea Ave. and officially opened on Oct. 1. | Kevin Tsukii

Vallerie Wagner swears she’s not the sex police.

“Sex should be fun,” Wagner said in a new office still smelling of fresh paint.

She’s sex-positive, but fighting a battle to keep the citizens of South L.A. HIV-negative. Wagner runs the Gleicher/Chen Health Center which is part of APLA Health & Wellness, the first Federally Qualified Health Center in South L.A. aimed at serving both HIV-negative and -positive people of color. According to the Federal HIV/AIDS Web Council, this is the population most affected by AIDS.

The health center resides at the intersection of La Brea Avenue and Rodeo Road in the Baldwin Hills Shopping Center and aims to serve the predominantly Black gay community of South L.A.

The 6,700-square-foot building is outfitted with five exam rooms, a blood lab, a state-of-the-art dental clinic and three counseling rooms. The modern furniture and vibrant colors make the space feel like a welcoming lounge.

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Community leaders seek healthcare funds for LA County’s uninsured



AffordableCareApril2014-ARNAs the enrollment period for the Affordable Care Act comes to an end, about one million people in Los Angeles County remain uninsured. Community groups and activist organizations are calling upon the Board of Supervisors to propose a plan for those still without healthcare.

Click play on an audio story from Annenberg Radio News to hear from those ineligible for Obamacare, as well as the voices of the people fighting on their behalf for another solution.

Solis visits St. John’s to discuss health reform



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St. John’s President & CEO Jim Mangia leads the panel discussion, with Labor Secretary Hilda Solis getting ready to speak. (Photos: Andrew Zappin, St. John’s Well Child and Family Center)

Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis today joined residents and health activists to celebrate the second anniversary of President Obama’s health reform at St. John’s Well Child and Family Center’s Louis C. Frayser Health Center in South Los Angeles.

Solis was part of a panel of speakers that included health leaders and patients that discussed the impact of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

“Because of the Affordable Care Act, every single American, regardless of their circumstances will have access to affordable, quality health insurance,” said Solis during the event.

Jim Mangia, President & CEO of St. John’s Well Child and Family Center (SJWCFC), spoke about how the ACA has directly affected inner city and rural communities through significant funding for the expansion of federally qualified health centers.

Under the ACA, SJWCFC has received nearly $10 million to expand and renovate its facilities, adopt electronic health records, and open new community health centers in the poorest communities of South LA. This funding will enable the organization to provide tens of thousands additional patient visits each year.

“Here in our community, we see every day why health insurance reform was so desperately needed,” said Mangia. “We see firsthand the heartbreaking consequences when insurance companies defer treatment or deny coverage. Every day, our staff members interact with patients who couldn’t afford to see a doctor and had to go to the emergency department for something as simple as a sore throat.”

Members of the audience asked questions about how the ACA will help families reclaim their economic security, with one resident noting his family went bankrupt in order to pay his healthcare bills. Another resident told the audience and panelists that before the ACA, her insurance company denied her coverage because of a pre-existing condition.

Many patients thanked Solis for the significant expansion of community health centers under the ACA, citing that uninsured residents would not have received health services were it not for community health centers like SJWCFC and others throughout Los Angeles County.