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HOME > ABOUT > PRESS > MARIN COMMUNITY CLINIC CAMPAIGNS FOR NEW-SITE CASH
Article published - November 22, 2007
Credit: MARIN INDEPENDENT JOURNAL
Marin Community Clinic campaigns for new-site cash
By Richard Halstead
The Marin Community Clinic has embarked on a public campaign to raise the $9.8 million needed to purchase an 11,000-square-foot building in San Rafael's Canal neighborhood and expand its operations in Novato.
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| Ernesto Dominquez searches for medical records as Danielle Durand enters
a crowded room at Marin Community Clinic in Greenbrae. The clinic has
outgrown its building and has launched a fundraising effort to help pay for
a new facility.
( IJ photo/Frankie Frost) |
The clinic, which provides care for a large percentage of Marin county's low-income and uninsured residents, needs more space to meet growing demand for its services.
"We have outgrown our facility," said John Shen, the clinic's executive director. "The demand is huge."
In 2006, the clinic accommodated 48,000 patient visits, up from 32,000 visits in 2001. The clinic, however, had to decline an additional 5,000 requests for patient care in 2006 because of a lack of capacity.
Most Marin doctors refuse to accept Medi-Cal for lower-income residents because of low reimbursement rates. The clinic gets much larger reimbursements because it is a federally qualified health center, Shen said. A consultant hired by the county recently estimated that 5.7 percent of Marin's 253,000 residents relied on Medi-Cal to cover their health-care costs in 2005 and another 6.5 percent were uninsured.
The clinic employs 20 doctors, who work hours equivalent to about 11.5 full-time workers. The clinic has an annual budget of $8 million, having doubled in size since 2002. Three-quarters of its annual operating revenue comes from reimbursement from public insurance and patient fees. About half of all patients are eligible for Medi-Cal; another 25 percent qualify for Medicare, Health Families and California Kids public insurance programs.
Twenty-five percent lack insurance and pay for their own treatments - albeit at a substantially reduced rate. Eighty-five percent of the clinic's adult patients work but can't afford health insurance.
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Doctors and other personnel crowd around the
pediatric nurses station at the Marin Community
Clinic, which is launching a fundraising effort to
help pay for a new facility.
(IJ photo/Frankie Frost) |
Currently, the clinic's biggest presence is in Greenbrae."It's three trailers sitting on the back lot of Marin General Hospital," Shen said. "We were supposed to be in there for a short period of time, but this organization has been in that clinic since 1991."
The clinic also has an office at 400 Professional Center Drive in Novato. Shen said he is looking for a new, larger space in Novato, which will be leased. The Greenbrae office has 18 examination rooms and occupies 8,400 square feet. The Novato office has 10 examination rooms and occupies 4,000 square feet.
The new San Rafael facility, which will be located in a renovated building at 3110 Kerner Blvd., would nearly double the clinic's total square feet. The facility would also be a block away from the county of Marin's planned community health complex - a $72 million project that will occupy renovated buildings at 3230, 3240, 3250, 3260 and 3270 Kerner Blvd. The buildings were formerly occupied by Lucasfilm's Industrial Light & Magic.
The Canal site should make it easier for many of the clinic's patients to get to their appointments. About 60 percent of the clinic's patients are Latino and about 40 percent of its total patients live in the densely populated 6 square miles that comprise the Canal neighborhood.
In May, Sutter Health, which is expected to compete with Marin General after it gives up control of the hospital, purchased the Marin Square Shopping Center, a 7.4-acre site that spans 55-75 Bellam Blvd. in San Rafael. The location is close to the Canal neighborhood. Then in July, Sutter Health bought a 3.35-acre property at 110 Gary Place, which adjoins the Marin Square Shopping Center.
So far, the campaign has secured pledges totaling $6.2 million, plus a $500,000 matching grant, said Elliot Levin, the owner of the Partnership Resources Group, a San Rafael-based fundraising consulting firm. Levin has also advised the county of Marin on a campaign to renovate and modernize the Marin Center, which includes the Veterans Memorial Auditorium, Exhibit Hall and the county's fairgrounds.
The clinic's biggest donations have come from the county of Marin. The county contributed $1.3 million by making the building available to the clinic at a reduced cost. Shen said the clinic is negotiating a deal with the county to lease the building for 20 years with an option to buy it for $3.3 million. The Marin Community Foundation has supplied a $1 million grant.
Larry Bedard, a member of the Marin Healthcare District board, which will be in charge of Marin General Hospital when Sutter Health relinquishes control, said, "I think it will be much more cost-effective to treat people in the clinic than having them come to the emergency department for primary care."
Shen said both Sutter Health, which currently manages Marin General, and Kaiser, which has a hospital in San Rafael, stand to benefit financially if the clinic's expanded operations reduce demand for services in their emergency rooms. By law, hospitals must treat anyone who comes to their emergency rooms, regardless of whether they can pay.
"Sutter hasn't been nearly as generous to the clinic historically as I think they should have been," said Jennifer Rienks, another member of the Marin Healthcare District board. "If you look at other health care districts, the districts are running those clinics, and they're using proceeds from the hospitals to help support the clinics."
Shen said Sutter Health has provided a grant of $300,000 annually over recent years. Kaiser's contributions have grown from $5,000 in 2003 to $100,000 in 2007, Shen said. "I don't have an opinion on whether it is enough or not," said Linda Tavaszi, who took over as the clinic's president of the board in January. Tavaszi works under the director of Sutter Health as executive director of Physician Services and the Marin Cancer & Heart Institutes at Marin General Hospital.
Neither Sutter Health nor Kaiser has said how much they might contribute to the capital campaign, Levin said.
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BY THE NUMBERS
8 million for annual budget
14,000 Number of patients served in fiscal year 2006-07
50,000 Number of patient visits in fiscal year 2006-07
11.: Number of doctors (full-time equivalent)
85 Percent of working adult patients who can't afford health insurance
25 Percent of budget from government grants, foundations and gifts
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