In 1976 a citizen’s group in the San Luis Valley launched Valley-Wide Health Services when it was determined that the emergency room was the only primary care option to families who lacked health insurance. These social justice activists became the first Valley-Wide Board of Directors and mobilized a primary health care system providing comprehensive health care to all people, especially the medically underserved, including migrants and their families. The Chicano Movement, El Movimiento, the following Farmworker Movement led by Cesar Chavez, and the Black Power Movement laid the foundation for what is now Valley-Wide’s mission. These events are all intrinsically linked to promote community empowerment and cultural identity.
The death of George Floyd has put the journey of embracing diversity, equity and inclusion in front of all of us. Valley-Wide is committed to standing with those who have been pushed down, pushed aside or overrun. We believe systemic racism has impacted the health and well-being of communities of color in our country. We honor those who have been treated as “less than” by providing care to all who come through our doors without question or judgment. Allowing those who have been historically oppressed and discriminated against to have a voice and a place for care is central to Valley-Wide Health Systems.
Please join us in providing space for the difficult conversations and actions that must occur in order to change our current standards of injustice and inequity at all levels of our nation. We cannot support systems that, either through ignorance or intentionality, perpetuate intolerance, injustice and disparity. Valley-Wide Health Systems will be a part of the solution.
Valley-Wide Board of Directors and Leadership Team
