By GARTH STAPLEY
Special to the Ceres (Calif.) Courier
CROWS LANDING – A tribal gaming casino just off Interstate 5, less than two dozen miles from Ceres, could be a catalyst for bringing emergency healthcare long sought by the west side of Stanislaus County.
County Supervisor Channce Condit admits that the picture of a gleaming casino – potentially operated by a tribe he’s not yet ready to name – may be a long shot. But it could provide the trigger he’s searched for high and low, he says, to finally establish a hospital, or at least an emergency room, in an underserved area he represents.
“I was elected (in fall 2020) to get a hospital. I was not elected to get a casino,” Condit said. “If a casino possibly gets us a hospital, we will absolutely entertain that.”
The casino would arise on a portion of the long-vacant, 1,528-acre former naval air base near Crows Landing, about six miles south of Patterson. County leaders have dreamed of luring companies to Crows Landing, population 302, for more than two decades.
Condit sees selling 200 or 300 acres to a tribe with which he’s in early stages of negotiating. Tribes can operate gaming facilities on nontribal land with state and federal approval, which usually takes years. And that could only happen if Condit’s colleagues on the Stanislaus Board of Supervisors agree with the vision.
“I think dreams are a good thing. I think aspirations are a good thing,” said Condit, who sees a full-scale Class III casino with Las Vegas-style slots and house-banked table games. “I think we need to have bold leadership, bold vision, and we need to be active and proactive.”
The defunct air base is much closer to Ceres/Modesto than other casino options. Chicken Ranch Casino Resort near Jamestown is twice that distance (45 miles); Elk Grove’s Sky River Casino and Black Oak Casino Resort near Sonora are both about 60 miles, in different directions.
The Crows Landing site could be attractive because it’s a mere half-mile from well-traveled I-5 and not too far from the Bay Area. Its best non-cardroom gaming options are the San Pablo Lytton Casino (Contra Costa County) and the Graton Resort & Casino in Rohnert Park (Sonoma County).
Experts: Big bucks from casinos lift local economies
Tribal gaming benefits neighbors as well as Native Americans, say industry representatives backed by studies from the likes of UCLA and Johns Hopkins University. They say casino patrons and workers boost the local economy as they spend money at local stores, restaurants and hotels.
Tribal gaming generated more than $17 billion in revenue in 2021 in California, which has more casinos than any other state, according to a recent study commissioned by the California Nations Indian Gaming Association. That figure doesn’t include another $7.9 billion in indirect spending in nearby communities, plus $1 billion for local governments from sales, income and property taxes, the study says.
“These impressive numbers demonstrate the positive benefit that tribes have on local communities throughout the state,” said association chairman James Siva at a conference earlier this year. “When tribal gaming grows, California benefits.”
If the unnamed tribe agrees to commit a certain amount – $100 million, say – toward west side healthcare, the 200 or 300 acres would become an extension of the tribe’s reservation, Condit said.
A future casino near Madera, about 70 miles south of Modesto, provides an example of how this could work. The North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians is building an off-reservation casino and hotel whose plans were approved in 2011 by the U.S. Department of the Interior under terms of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, followed by a state gaming compact negotiated by then-Gov. Jerry Brown. The tribe hopes to open the resort in summer 2026.
So no one here should hold their breath for a casino or hospital, Condit says – maybe six to eight years for the casino alone. But a vision has to start somewhere.
“This project is hypothetical,” he said. “It is simply a dream at this very moment, but we are starting to have a real conversation.”
Lack of medical services on west side causes anxiety
The west side of Stanislaus County is not a total healthcare desert.
Medical clinics in Patterson are operated by the Del Puerto Health Care District and by Golden Valley Health Centers. They offer urgent care for minor illness and injuries – till 8 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday for Del Puerto, and till 8:30 p.m. on weekdays and 5:30 p.m. on Saturday for Golden Valley – but neither is open around the clock and neither provides life-saving emergency medical service.
“Our ambulance service provides excellent care” for most emergencies, said Karin Freese, Del Puerto’s chief executive. Only 6 percent of 9-1-1 calls result in hospital admission for acute, high-level care, she said.
Previous west side hospitals failed, including the West Side Community Hospital near Newman in 1993 and Del Puerto’s hospital in Patterson in 1998. Neither could compete with regional medical powerhouses like Tenet, Sutter or Kaiser – one of which might be most likely to try again on the west side, Condit said, with funding from a source with deep pockets. Like a casino.
“I know the anxiety of living out (here) and having to think, ‘What are we going to do if something bad goes on?’” said Condit, who lives with his family – including children ages 1, 3 and 9 – in nearby Newman. “We live with that on a daily basis as west-siders. And emergencies don’t just happen 9 to 5, Monday through Friday.”
– Garth Stapley is the accountability reporter for The Modesto Focus, a project of the nonprofit Central Valley Journalism Collaborative.
