NEW HEALTH CLINIC OPENS IN SANTA CRUZ MOUNTAINS
BEN LOMOND >> The bell tolled on Tuesday in the name of health rather than demise.
The chimes reverberated throughout redwoods at 9:53 a.m. as Santa Cruz Community Health celebrated the opening of their new San Lorenzo Valley clinic by ringing the bell above Wee Kirk Church in Ben Lomond. The organization recently bought the church to serve as its new SLV “health home.”
The health home serves as a health connection for residents of the Santa Cruz Mountains, who typically have to take the trip to Santa Cruz for all of their medical needs. Major health providers don’t have facilities in the mountains and the Scotts Valley Urgent Care shut down one location, further removing mountain residents from medical facilities they need.
Santa Cruz Community Health sought to fill that gap by placing a new facility in Ben Lomond’s backyard.
“Living just down the road and my health home just got a lot closer to my dahlia garden,” Gloria Nieto, a patient and now board member of SCCH, said. “While I have the other doctors, I know I can always reach out and it’s just a phone call away. Now, it’s just a little bike ride away. I’m so excited about this that were making such a drastic upgrade in the quality of life in this very special community.”
The new clinic provides comprehensive care services to its patients. Its care will span from primary care family practice and will even include prenatal care. It’s meant for more than the sick, CEO Leslie Conner noted. Instead, it is a place for people to have all of their medical needs met.
Those struggling with addiction and mental health issues can seek care at the SLV clinic. Additionally, it will provide group care sessions where people struggling with any disease, such as diabetes, can receive care for their illness, but also peer support from other community members going through the same struggle.
“We serve the whole person and making sure there are no barriers to health is what it’s about,” Conners said.
The new clinic began serving patients Monday afternoon, just hours after the ribbon cutting ceremony. Currently, the facility only has the capacity to serve about 10 patients a day, but Santa Cruz Community Health plans to expand its newest facility in the near future.
A dental clinic and former private practice facility sit just behind the SLV health home. As the demand grows for its services, and Santa Cruz Community Health believes it will. The organization plans to acquire part of that facility to expand its Ben Lomond location.
“The idea is once we set some roots here, get the operation running and do primary care here, then we will also move into that space,” said SCCH Chief Medical Officer Casey KirkHart. “There’s more exam rooms, there’s more rooms for lab
oratory and we’ll do something different here.”
KirkHart estimates the current facility to expand within the next year.
Rep. Anna Eshoo recognized Santa Cruz Community Health and its mission with a certificate of congressional recognition. Eshoo, unable to make the trip to Ben Lomond, sent her representative, Nicholas Hargis, to present the award on her behalf.
“As chairwoman of the health subcommittee of the house of representatives, Congresswoman Eshoo understands how important accessibility is in healthcare,” Hargis said on behalf of the congresswoman. “Living in the mountains doesn’t mean — it can’t mean — no access to healthcare.”
Santa Cruz Community Health’s mission to expand healthcare access does not end with the SLV health home. The organization is in the process of building a 20,000 square foot facility in Live Oak, as well.
The project, slated to open later this year, is in conjunction with Dientes to provide dental care to underserved community members. It will also feature 57 units of affordable housing through a partnership with MidPen housing.
MidPen expects the housing development to be completed next year.
“Our collective belief in community is stronger than ever in this moment. I can almost forget the pandemic,” Conners said. “Today, we celebrate. Let’s envision the happy future that starts right here, right now.”