SC Community Health Leases Clinic Space

COMMUNITY NEWS

SC Community Health Leases Clinic Space

Santa Cruz Community Health, a nonprofit provider of affordable health services regardless of ability to pay, is expanding its reach, opening a clinic in the San Lorenzo Valley in January.

Santa Cruz Mountain Health Center, in the historic Wee Kirk church building in downtown Ben Lomond, will open Monday, Jan. 24, offering primary care services.

Starting Jan. 10, people can call 831427-3500 to schedule appointments.

In 2014, Dr. Steven Leib, a longtime family physician, and his wife Vivian bought the building, which was built in 1891, and restored it with historical accuracy for their practice. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2017. Dr. Leib practiced at this location until he and his wife retired in November.

Santa Cruz Community Health is leasing the property.

“We strive every day to improve the health of our patients and the community,” said Leslie Conner, chief executive officer of Santa Cruz Community Health. “We are proud and excited to bring health care services to more families and individuals in the San Lorenzo Valley.”

Santa Cruz Mountain Health Center will initially operate 30 hours a week, serving approximately 2,000 people living in San Lorenzo Valley.

The clinic will be staffed by three experienced physicians and a team of support staff with future services based on patient needs.

Doctors on Staff

Dr. Casey KirkHart: A Long Beach native, Casey attended UC Berkeley, where he studied biology and sociology. He spent a semester abroad in Costa Rica where he perfected his Spanish and salsa skills.

He moved to New York for medical school, choosing a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine) degree for its openness to complementary medicine, its approach to the patient as a whole person, and its philosophy that physicians are teachers and guides to support the body’s inherent ability to heal itself. Casey engaged in health care advocacy and activism in New York and Washington, DC, where he mobilized thousands of future physicians and community organizations to bring their voice on justice in health to the public and political forum.

Casey honed his clinical, leadership and advocacy skills during residency training at Harbor-UCLA, a large county hospital in Los Angeles. Casey has served as associate medical director at Saban Community Clinic, a busy, urban family practice in Southern California.

Dr. Rose Lovell: Dr. Lovell (she/her) is a board-certified family medicine physician. She came to love the Santa Cruz Mountains when she moved there as child. The quiet of the redwoods was quite the relief after the busy suburbs of west Los Angeles.

She attended Cabrillo College and then earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology from San Jose State University.

Medical training required a visit to snowy New England, where she earned her medical degree from the Frank H Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University in Connecticut.

She was grateful to come home to California to complete her residency at Natividad in Salinas.

She joins the team at Santa Cruz Community Health, offering care for all ages, sexes, and genders including prenatal and reproductive care. She has a special focus on gender and sexual minority health including care for LGBTQ+ patients. A safe, trauma-sensitive environment is her goal for all her patients.

“We want to serve our patients where they are,” Conner said, noting that many current Santa Cruz Community Health patients live in the San Lorenzo Valley. “SLV is a remote region compared to much of Santa Cruz and it has long been underserved. Our goal is to increase access to high-quality, affordable health care for the mountain community.”

Santa Cruz Community Health a Federally qualified health center with nearly 21,000 patients.

It operates the Women’s Health Center in downtown Santa Cruz and the East Cliff Family Health Center in Live Oak. The clinics offer primary care, pediatrics, prenatal care and education, mental health and substance abuse counseling, chronic disease management, health insurance enrollment, food distribution and more. During the pandemic, clinics have been providing Covid testing and Covid vaccines.

Santa Cruz Community Health is building a new 20,000-square-foot-clinic on Capitola Road in Live Oak. The project, in partnership with Dientes and MidPen Housing, is to open in late 2022. The 57 units of affordable housing are to be completed in 2023. n

Dr. Casey KirkHart Dr. Rose Lovell

“Wheelchair” from page 22

I cannot find words to express my gratitude to those who donated, shared, and spread the word about what we, together, have done.

Kendra herself has said, “It’s not all about the money, it’s about the fact that these kids took the time and energy to do something like this, and I’m so lucky to have them as my students.”

For me personally, this was not about the money.

Although I am eternally grateful for it, and the fact that our very cherished Miss K will be able to care for herself, it’s more about her realizing how much she means to us.

Us being, her students, her friends, her family, her fiancé ...

Without meeting Kendra, I never would have dreamed of being where I am now. She truly has saved me, and no amount of money will be enough to show her that.

As a theater department, we consider Kendra our family. We thank you for being apart of this journey with us, and we wouldn’t be able to do it without your support. n

Vivian (from left) and Dr. Steven Leib, with Leslie Conner, CEO of Santa Cruz Community Health, and Gloria Nieto, Santa Cruz Community Health board secretary.

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For info, see schealthcenters.org, facebook.com/ schealthcenters or on Instagram @schealthcenters.