Press Democrat - Sonoma County health clinics receive $8 million in federal grants

Three Sonoma County health clinics will receive more than $8 million in federal money to build facilities and improve services to uninsured and low-income patients in Sonoma County, including dental aid.

Santa Rosa Community Health Centers will get $2.8 million to open a new 13-chair dental clinic in Roseland next year.

Sonoma Valley Community Health Centers will receive $5 million toward a new facility in Boyes Hot Springs.

West County Health Centers in Guerneville will get $492,200. The Russian River area service will use the money for facility improvements, including dental needs.

“We're ecstatic. Most of our health centers were funded and more patients will be able to be served,” said Pedro Toledo, spokesman for Redwood Community Health Coalition, an umbrella organization working with local health centers.

The federal grants come from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services through the Affordable Care Act. Nationwide, health centers will receive $728 million to fund almost 400 building and renovation projects.

Santa Rosa Community Health Centers was “thrilled” to obtain federal funding for a new dental clinic in Santa Rosa, CEO Naomi Fuchs said.

“More than half of our patients have never seen a dentist. The new dental clinic will make it possible for them to get the care they need and deserve to have a healthy productive life,” Fuchs said in a statement.

The Sonoma Valley health center currently operates in five different buildings in the town of Sonoma. The federal money will help start a new facility, which will also provide dental services, in Boyes Hot Springs, where the valley's patient base is located, Toledo said.

A location has been proposed, just off Highway 12, he said.

Toledo said the grant application process was competitive, but the local health centers were able to articulate great need, including a dental crisis facing many low-income or uninsured Sonoma County residents.

This was the second round of grant money from the federal fund. The initial round in 2010 brought $9 million to the Petaluma Health Center for a new facility on North McDowell Boulevard, which opened last summer, Toledo said.

Rep. Lynn Woolsey, D-Petaluma and Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, advocated for the local grants.

“These funds, which were made possible through the Affordable Care Act, will improve health care and support local jobs for folks across our communities,” Thompson said in a statement.

“These federal dollars will go a long way toward making our local health care delivery system even stronger and ensuring that our neighbors have access to the best possible medical care,” Woolsey said in a statement.