AltaMed Breaks Ground on New Corporate Headquarters Answering Obama's Call to Strengthen Capacity and Access to Health Care

CITY OF COMMERCE, Calif., May 21 /PRNewswire/ -- AltaMed CEO Castulo De La Rocha was joined by California State Assemblymember Hector De La Torre, City of Commerce Mayor Tina Baca Del Rio, to break ground on the company's new corporate headquarters.  The new facility allows the organization to meet its aggressive growth goals aimed at addressing the needs of thousands of Southern California residents who will become eligible for coverage under the new Health Care Reform Act.

"We are very proud of this project because it will strengthen our capacity to provide quality, culturally relevant health and human services to many more people," said Castulo De La Rocha, AltaMed's CEO.  "Community health care is critical to the success of the health reform legislation and AltaMed is leading the charge in the Southern California region.  The new headquarters also means that AltaMed will have the infrastructure necessary to ensure that underserved communities have access to quality services for many years to come."

AltaMed's new headquarters will centralize its operation to facilitate for more effective, efficient and coordinated access to services for underserved communities in the Southern California region.  The new building will have approximately 80,000 square feet of interior space and will include several state-of-the art amenities such video conferencing and energy-efficient technology.  

"AltaMed, for 41 years, has been a leader in bringing valuable medical services to thousands of families," stated Assemblymember Hector De La Torre.  "I applaud them for their commitment to maintaining the necessary steps to ensure that they will continue to provide important services to underserved communities."

The construction of the facility will provide new and sustained construction-related job opportunities for more than 70 individuals.  The building is currently configured to house approximately 400 employees.  The construction will be completed approximately 16 months.

"The construction of AltaMed's headquarters is a great success story for the City of Commerce and we welcome this great organization to its permanent home," commented Tina Baca Del Rio, Mayor of City of Commerce.  "This project not only represents jobs and positive development for the city, but also a strengthening of the health care safety net that is crucial to ensuring the well-being of our communities."

The national health care reform package contains a total of $11 billion in new, dedicated funding for the Health Centers programs during the next five years. $9.5 billion of this funding will allow health centers to expand their operational capacity to serve nearly 20 million new patients nationwide.

ABOUT ALTAMED

AltaMed, a private nonprofit organization is a major provider of health and human services and the largest Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) in Southern California.  AltaMed's mission is to provide superior quality health and human services through an integrated world-class delivery system for Latino, multi-ethnic and underserved communities.  AltaMed began as the East Los Angeles Barrio Free Clinic in 1969, a volunteer-staff storefront providing basic medical services.  Today AltaMed's service area extends beyond East Los Angeles to the Greater Los Angeles area and Orange County.

SOURCE AltaMed