Camp fire ravaged Adventist Feather River system re-opens health center with ribbon cutting celebration

As the Paradise, California community slowly begins to heal following the apocalyptic devastation of the Camp wildfire last month, Adventist Health celebrated the reopening of its Feather River Health Center clinic with a ribbon cutting ceremony Thursday. The town's mayor, chamber of commerce and numerous community members were in attendance. The reopening came after road access to that portion of Skyway, a major conduit in and out of the town, was reopened by officials.

The health center is Adventist Feather River's largest clinic and is one of the first businesses to return to Paradise. The Chico and Corning clinics re-opened in mid-November.

The clinic offers numerous services including anti-coagulation, behavioral health, chiropractic, dental, otolaryngology, endocrinology, family medicine, gastroenterology, general surgery, healthy mothers, internal medicine, laboratory services, medical imaging, nephrology, neurology, orthopedics, pain management, palliative care, pediatrics, pharmacy, physical therapy, podiatry, psychiatry, pulmonology, telemedicine and women's health services.

MORE ON THE ONGOING SITUATION

The Adventist Health Feather River Medical Center campus will take longer to recover from the damage done by the wildfire, the system said in a recent statement. While some newer buildings escaped the worst damage, the infrastructure, access, clean up and population needed to support the hospital will take longer to bring back.

"We are focusing our attention to support the immediate and long-term recovery of our associates and their families. We have informed them that it will be at least a year or more before many services are restored, and longer before they reach their former scale. We are working diligently to help associates find new opportunities elsewhere within Adventist Health. Our hope and intent is to place all of those associates who are willing to relocate somewhere within Adventist Health, and to work with those who cannot relocate to find connections locally with other organizations. When the time is right and as services return, we encourage those who wish to return to the community to come back," the system said.

Adventist Health has also raised at least $6.5 million for its associates and are working to expand its Fire Assistance Fund to help Butte County.

Adventist Health Feather River is part of Adventist Health, a faith-based, nonprofit integrated health system serving more than 80 communities on the West Coast and Hawaii. Adventist Health includes hospitals, clinics, home care agencies, hospice agencies and joint-venture retirement centers in both rural and urban communities and is staffed by 35,000 associates, medical staff physicians, allied health professionals and volunteers.

ON THE RECORD

"This ceremony is symbolic of our strength and resilience. It's the start of our journey of restoration so we can help our community return to a sense of health, wholeness and hope," commented Ryan Ashlock, Finance Officer at Adventist Health Feather River.

Twitter: @BethJSanborn
Email the writer: beth.sanborn@himssmedia.com