History Of Feather River Tribal Health
Past To Present

The road to the current organization of Feather River Tribal Health, Inc. (FRTH) has been a long journey that started many years ago.

Originally, the organization was known as Northern Valley Indian Health. It was formed in October, 1971 and served 6 counties and later added two additional counties to their service area. The original counties were:  Butte, Colusa, Glenn, Plumas, Sutter, Tehama, Yolo, and Yuba. A local dentist and doctor donated their services to provide healthcare to the local Native American people. At one time medical services were provided to patients from a mobile van.

In March 1981, the departments were able to come under one roof at a the new location on Montgomery Street. The main facility was located in Oroville with satellites in Greenville, Willows, and Woodland. Services provided included Medical, Dental, Outreach, and counseling. The original Rancherias that sponsored Northern Valley Indian Health included:  Grindstone, Colusa, Cortina, Rumsey, Berry Creek, and Mooretown.

In 1993, the organization consisted of approximately 25 employees and covered eight counties. The service area was large and many of the Native American people utilizing Northern Valley Indian Health’s services did not have representation on the Board of Directors. Through a unique contracting process with the Indian Health Service, an agency of the U.S. Public Health Service, Berry Creek, and Mooretown Rancherias formed the Berry Creek/Mooretown Tribal Health Organization on September 30, 1993. The organization was sanctioned and operated under a joint powers agreement signed by each of the Tribes. This organization had three representatives from each Tribe sit on the Board for a total of six directors. The facility was located in Oroville. In 1995, a second facility was opened in Yuba City. Both facilities provided Medical, Dental, Behavioral Health, Outreach, and patient transportation services. Over the years, additional services have been added. On May 5, 1997, Enterprise Rancheria joined Berry Creek and Mooretown Rancherias as a third member of the joint powers agency.

As the organization has grown and progressed, it became necessary to update the agency’s overall structure to make it competitive and operate as a healthcare business providing services to Native Americans. On November 19, 1999, the agency became a non-profit corporation. The Board of Directors is now comprised of nine members and three alternates. Each Tribe appoints three members and an alternate to serve on the Board. The Board of Directors now operate under the Bylaws of the Corporation, which provides policy direction and oversight of all operations of the organization. The corporation received non-profit status from the Internal Revenue Service in June of 2000. In 2002, the Oroville site moved to the Fifth Street facility.

Today FRTH not only serves the Native American patients that were the original visionaries for this program, but it is also open to all the community to serve their healthcare needs. FRTH continues to grow. The 10,000 square foot addition was completed in September 2009. The new expansion added four (4) medical exam rooms, two (2) dental operatories, four (4) behavioral health offices, and exercise room, two (2) conference rooms, and on-site storage. The facility today provides state-of-the-art health care in a seamless environment.