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HOME > ABOUT > PRESS > KAISER GIVES $400K TO CLINICS
Article published - October 31, 2007
Credit: NORTHBAY BUSINESS JOURNAL
BREAKING NEWS: Kaiser gives $400,000 to local clinics
D. ASHLEY VERRILL
SANTA ROSA, Oct. 31, 2007 – Kaiser Permanente officials today announced two donations totaling $400,000 that will benefit Sonoma County groups serving the uninsured and underinsured.
Southwest Community Health Center received $250,000 from Kaiser Permanente of Santa Rosa for plans to finish a second campus on Fulton and Guerneville roads.
Discussions for the new location have been in the works for at least two years, and Southwest announced plans to raise $2 million for the site earlier this year.
The west Santa Rosa campus is projected to open in 2008 and will allow the community clinic to serve an additional 7,000 to 10,000 patients a year by providing primary care, mental health services and dental procedures. Last year Southwest saw 12,000 patients at its main campus.
The second donation went to the newly formed Pediatric Dental Initiative in Windsor, which will provide dental care and surgery to uninsured children and disabled children and adults.
The $150,000 donation closed the group’s capital campaign launched in October of last year and will fund final construction of its dental facilities. The two buildings on 19th Hole Drive off Shiloh Road house one operating room and outreach offices.
Chief Executive Officer Vivika Rydell said the group plans to eventually add another operating room. PDI planned to serve its first patient Thursday, but unexpected construction delays pushed the grand opening forward to Dec. 1 or Jan. 1. Kaiser pediatrician Dr. Katherine Foster founded the group in 2002 with children’s advocate and lawyer Suzie Schupe.
Ms. Rydell said the group plans to raise money for a $3 million to $4 million endowment that will allow it to continue surgery and community outreach operations. When the center opens, it will operate two to three days a week, seeing at least seven patients a day. Eventually that time will be extended to four or five days a week.
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