Lancaster, Palmdale and the high desert towns
Psychiatric Care for the Antelope Valley, Without the Long Drive
Video psychiatric care for Lancaster, Palmdale and the high desert, with straight answers on Medi-Cal and on getting a good connection.
Video first, office if you like
423,309
people live in the two Antelope Valley county subdivisions
2 hr 10 min
by car from Lancaster City Hall, Monday at 7.41am, with a 28-minute 405 delay in it
24.4%
of working-age adults in the valley rely on Medi-Cal alone
91.6%
of Antelope Valley households have broadband of some kind
In short
How psychiatric care reaches the high desert
We provide psychiatric care to the Antelope Valley mainly by secure video: an evaluation of about an hour, a diagnosis where one is clear, and medication management at regular follow-ups. Our one office is in Long Beach, about two hours away at 7.41am on a Monday, a sample slowed by a 405 delay, so video keeps care steady.
- Our office
- 3646 Long Beach Blvd # 205, Long Beach, CA 90807
- Hours
- Mon–Fri · 8 AM–6 PM (Pacific)
- Phone
- (818) 286-3862
Telehealth available across California, with new locations coming to Northern California.
Get directions →Getting care
The drive down the 14, measured, and the video alternative
Drive times are Google's, sampled once at the hour each note names, in that hour's traffic. Peaks that were not sampled will run longer.
Seeing us by video
In the two Antelope Valley subdivisions, 91.6 percent of households have broadband of some kind and 6.2 percent have no internet access at home.
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California law defines telehealth as care delivered through information and communication technology, including real-time interactions, for diagnosis, consultation, treatment and care management.
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Driving to the office
From Lancaster City Hall at 44933 Fern Ave, Google's recommended route ran 91.8 miles via CA-14 S and I-405 S and took about 2 hours 10 minutes at 7.41am Pacific on Monday 26 October 2026, in the morning peak. Google's note on that route read "Fastest route, despite slowdown on I-405 S causing 28-min delay". Late-morning and evening traffic were not sampled.
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From Palmdale City Hall at 38300 Sierra Hwy, Google's recommended route ran 82.6 miles via CA-14 S and I-405 S and took about 2 hours 5 minutes at 7.41am Pacific on Monday 26 October 2026, in the morning peak. Google's note on that route read "Fastest route, despite slowdown on I-405 S causing 30-min delay". Late-morning and evening traffic were not sampled.
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Paying for care
Medi-Cal, commercial plans and self-pay in the Antelope Valley
We do not currently take Medi-Cal managed care. If that is your coverage, we are a self-pay option rather than a covered visit, and it is better to know that now than at the front desk. Self-pay is $250 for a 60-minute initial psychiatric evaluation and $150 for a 30-minute follow-up visit, and there is a sliding scale. Please ask.
We are in network with 19 commercial carriers, including Aetna, Anthem, Beacon Health Options, Carelon, Cigna and others, and you can check your own plan below before you book. TRICARE and TriWest are on that list, so service members, veterans and military families are billed like anyone else here.
Coverage across the Antelope Valley
Across the two Antelope Valley subdivisions, 51.0 percent of adults aged 19 to 64 have employer-based coverage only and 5.4 percent buy a plan directly, which puts 56.5 percent on commercial insurance once the unrounded shares are combined.
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In the same age band, 24.4 percent rely on Medi-Cal or another means-tested program alone and 8.7 percent have no health coverage at all.
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The two halves of the valley differ most on the uninsured. In the North Antelope Valley subdivision, around Lancaster, 6.4 percent of working-age adults have no coverage; in the South Antelope Valley subdivision, around Palmdale, 10.7 percent do not, while commercial coverage is 57.3 and 55.8 percent.
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In-network with your insurance
We're in-network with most major plans, so care stays affordable. Not sure about yours? Verify your coverage in about a minute, or we'll gladly check it for you.
No card to hand? Leave your name, phone number and email, tick “look it up for me”, and we'll do the checking. Self-pay & sliding-scale options are also available.
Plans we accept
Paying out of pocket?
Self-pay ratesClear, upfront self-pay rates. No surprises, no fine print. You’ll know the cost before your first visit.
Initial psychiatric evaluation
$250/ 1 hour
Follow-up visit
$150/ 30 min
Sliding-scale options are available. Just ask.
The far side of the county
The Antelope Valley belongs to Los Angeles County, but it sits on the north side of the San Gabriel Mountains, a long way from the harbor end of the county. Lancaster and Palmdale are cities of the high desert, and our office is on Long Beach Boulevard, close to the harbor. On a Monday at 7.41am, Google put Lancaster City Hall about 2 hours 10 minutes from our door and Palmdale City Hall about 2 hours 5 minutes, both by the 14 and the 405. Both routes carried a slowdown on the 405 that Google said was adding close to half an hour, so a clear morning would be quicker, but still a long trip each way.
Nobody should have to give up most of a day for a medication check. So for the Antelope Valley we work by video first. You still get the same clinician, the same length of visit and the same careful plan. You just keep the day.
Two cities and a desert
Lancaster describes itself as a community of 172,237 about an hour north of Los Angeles. Palmdale counts over 166,000 residents across more than a hundred square miles. Around them, the valley runs to roughly 3,000 square miles on the western side of the Mojave Desert, held between the Tehachapi Mountains and the San Gabriel Mountains, according to Palmdale’s own city library. Distances inside the valley are long before you even reach the freeway south, which is one more reason a video appointment from home makes sense here.
Steady care over a long distance
Most of psychiatric treatment is follow-up. When medication changes, the next visit is where we check how the change is going. That only works if the follow-ups actually happen, and that is where distance usually wins. A thirty-minute video visit from Palmdale fits in a lunch break. A round trip to Long Beach does not.
Getting a connection that holds
About nine in ten Antelope Valley homes have broadband, which also means some do not. The Census counts about one household in sixteen with no internet at home at all. If that is you, a phone with good mobile signal can carry the visit, and so can a quiet corner somewhere with a stronger connection. Mention it when you book if connection is a worry.
Two halves of the valley
On commercial coverage the two halves of the valley look much alike, a little over half of working-age adults in each. The difference is in who has nothing at all. Around Lancaster, about six in a hundred have no coverage; around Palmdale, closer to eleven in a hundred. If that is you, it is worth knowing that self-pay with a sliding scale is a real option here, and that asking about it costs nothing. Call before you decide you cannot afford care.
Being plain about Medi-Cal
Close to a quarter of working-age adults in the valley rely on Medi-Cal alone, so it matters to say this clearly: we do not currently take Medi-Cal managed care. That is a present answer, not a permanent one. The county’s handbook describes how Medi-Cal members reach specialty mental health services through the county mental health plan, and the Department of Mental Health calls its help line the primary entry point for behavioral health resources. If you would rather see us, we offer self-pay visits with a sliding scale.
If things get harder before your next visit
Call or text 988 at any hour, or call the county help line. In an emergency, call 911.
Where
Lancaster, Palmdale and the towns between
How the Antelope Valley is defined
The Census Bureau's North Antelope Valley and South Antelope Valley county subdivisions together held 423,309 residents in its 2020 to 2024 estimates.
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In the Census geocoder, Lancaster City Hall on Fern Avenue falls in the North Antelope Valley subdivision and Palmdale City Hall on Sierra Highway in the South Antelope Valley subdivision.
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The county Department of Mental Health's Service Area 1 serves the cities of Lancaster and Palmdale and communities including Quartz Hill, Littlerock, Sun Village, Lake Hughes and Leona Valley.
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Quartz Hill, Littlerock, Pearblossom, Sun Village, Lake Hughes and Leona Valley are all absent from the county's published list of its cities, which does include Lancaster and Palmdale.
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The City of Lancaster describes itself as a community of 172,237 about one hour north of Los Angeles.
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The City of Palmdale gives its population as over 166,055 residents and its area as 106.6 square miles.
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Palmdale's city library describes the Antelope Valley as roughly 3,000 square miles on the western side of the Mojave Desert, separated from the San Joaquin Valley by the Tehachapi Mountains and bounded to the south by the San Gabriel Mountains.
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Other places we hear from
Lancaster
The northern of the valley's two cities, inside the Census North Antelope Valley subdivision.
Palmdale
The southern city, sitting on the 14 where it climbs toward the Santa Clarita Valley.
Quartz Hill
A community with no city government, named in the county's Service Area 1 beside Lancaster.
Littlerock, Pearblossom and Sun Village
The east side of the valley, strung along Pearblossom Highway.
Leona Valley and Lake Hughes
Small canyon communities in the hills at the valley's western edge.
The care
Psychiatric care that holds steady over distance
This is a psychiatric practice. We diagnose, we manage medication, and we keep seeing you so the plan keeps fitting your life. We do not run therapy groups or weekly talk therapy.
Psychiatry Services
Comprehensive psychiatric care, including diagnosis, treatment planning, and ongoing management led by a board-certified provider.
Medication Management
Careful selection, monitoring, and adjustment of psychiatric medications to maximize benefit and minimize side effects.
Psychiatric Evaluation
A thorough first assessment to understand your history and symptoms and build an accurate diagnosis and plan.
The first appointment
Plan on about an hour. We ask what brought you in, what has and has not helped before, your health and current medications, and what you would like to feel different. You leave with a working diagnosis where one is clear, a plan, and the next visit already on the calendar.
Follow-ups are shorter. They come every few weeks while a plan settles and spread out once it holds, and any medication change is made one step at a time so its effect stays readable.
Video is the whole visit
A video appointment is a full psychiatric visit, not a lesser version. Evaluation, diagnosis and medication follow-up all happen on screen, from anywhere in California.
New patients see Irine Achuamang, a psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner. Dr. Cho provides collaborating physician oversight.
Public resources
County mental health help in Service Area 1
Listed because they are useful. We have no referral arrangement with any of them.
The county Department of Mental Health calls its help line, (800) 854-7771, the primary entry point for behavioral health resources across Los Angeles County.
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The county publishes a member handbook explaining how to get Medi-Cal specialty mental health services through its mental health plan.
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The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline answers calls and texts at 988 around the clock.
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Antelope Valley questions
Do you take Medi-Cal in the Antelope Valley?
Not yet. We do not currently take Medi-Cal managed care, so a visit with us would be self-pay, with a sliding scale. The county's member handbook explains how Medi-Cal members get specialty mental health services through its mental health plan.
How long is the drive from Lancaster or Palmdale?
In our Monday sample at 7.41am, in the morning peak, Lancaster City Hall was about 2 hours 10 minutes away and Palmdale City Hall about 2 hours 5 minutes, both slowed by a reported slowdown on the 405. A video visit skips that trip.
My internet at home is unreliable. Can I still do video visits?
Often, yes. A phone with a strong mobile signal can carry the visit, and so can a parked car in a spot with good coverage. If the connection drops partway through, call our office.
Can I come in person once and do the rest by video?
Yes. You can make one trip to Long Beach for the first, longer appointment and take the follow-ups from home in the valley, or do every visit by video.
Where does the county's own help start?
With its help line at (800) 854-7771, which the Department of Mental Health calls the primary entry point for behavioral health resources across the county. It answers at any hour.
I live in Quartz Hill or Littlerock, not a city. Is that a problem?
Not at all. Those communities belong to the county's Service Area 1 with Lancaster and Palmdale, and video visits reach them the same way.
Related
Reading for Antelope Valley patients
Keep your care close, even from the desert
Request a time online and we will call to confirm it. Have your insurance card handy, and if you have Medi-Cal, we will explain self-pay before anything is booked.