VALLEY CLINIC MAY GET GRANT MORE THAN 700 CENTERS TO VIE FOR $35 MILLION.

Byline: Brent Hopkins Staff Writer

NORTH HOLLYWOOD - The money that came out of acrimonious negotiations surrounding the merger of Anthem Inc. and WellPoint Health Networks may give the Valley Community Clinic a roof that doesn't leak.

As part of a $265 million bargain struck between California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi and WellPoint Inc., VCC and more than 700 other centers like it will be able to vie for $35 million in grants to provide for low-income and under-served residents. WellPoint ceremonially signed the money over to the state on Thursday, allowing clinics to receive grants by this summer.

Garamendi and WellPoint representatives toured VCC Thursday, listening to President and Chief Executive Officer Ann Britt's lists of wants and needs. The funds have yet to be divvied up, let alone handed out, but she already had plenty of ways to spend whatever windfall the 35-year-old clinic receives.

``Ohh, we'll get it,'' she said. ``We wouldn't be able to provide the same services without it. We'll have a better standard of care for the people who need it most.''

In addition to patching the facility's leaky ceilings, Britt has her eyes on a new bone density screening machine, a family center and better waiting room furniture. Garamendi estimated that grants could range as high as $250,000 apiece, available for multiple projects at each location.

``Community clinics serve a population that has no health insurance and has no access to care,'' he said. ``This $35 million will allow for expansion of a place like this to serve more people and give them better care.''

As a result, those patients will be less likely to end up in emergency rooms seeking care, lessening the burden on hospitals to care for the uninsured. VCC already provides 47,000 patient visits each year, a number it hopes to double in coming years.

Because of the grants the clinic can now access, George Durham's eyes might not give out. The 56-year-old drifter has no job, no home and no health insurance. He relies on the VCC to treat his failing eyesight, getting free checkups in the hopes he can return to work one day.

``It's rough, trying to live day to day,'' he said outside the clinic's doors. ``If they get more money, that would be a damn good thing.''

Brent Hopkins, [phone]

brent.hopkins(at)dailynews.com

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(color) GARAMENDI