Media Advisory

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January 22, 2010

WASHINGTON, DC — U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-Martinez) and local officials will hold a press conference at Doctors Regional Medical Center Monday to highlight federal funding and the construction timeline for the much anticipated future West County Health Center, a project that will create jobs and improve health services.

SPEAKERS:	Rep George Miller (D-Martinez) Contra Costa Supervisor John Gioia, West Contra Costa Joint Powers Authority Dr. William Walker, Director, Contra Costa Health Services Joe Stewart, President & CEO, Doctors Medical Center Eric Zell, Vice President, West Contra Costa Joint Powers Authority Stephen Arnold, MD, West Contra Costa Joint Powers Authority Cheryl Johnson, Brookside Community Health Center
WHAT:	Press Conference
WHERE:	Doctors Medical Center Lobby 2000 Vale Road San Pablo, CA 94806
WHEN:	Monday, January 25 2010, 10:30 a.m.

BACKGROUND: The Richmond Health Center, the oldest of eight Contra Costa health centers, has handled over 1 million visits of low-income West Contra Costa County residents since 1967. The Center provides primary and specialty care, well-baby visits, immunizations and other critical services to the underserved community. The Richmond Health Center is the only one of eight Health Centers run by Contra Costa Health Services that has not been replaced. The building has exceeded its useful life, cannot be repaired and must be replaced. Currently, the Center has only 50,000 useable square feet and experiences regular problems with major infrastructure systems such as the elevators, heating, and cooling.

Doctors Medical Center in San Pablo is just a few miles from the existing Richmond Health Center. Locating the new Health Center at Doctors Medical Center will allow medical personnel to share services, such X-ray and laboratory testing. In addition, Health Center patients can be easily referred to Doctors Medical Center and vice verse, improving patient access to all medical services. The Doctors Medical Center location is large enough to accommodate the 1.6 acres needed to build a state-of-the-art health facility that would architecturally fit into the neighborhood.

The long-planned new Health Center got a major boost when $12 million from the American Recovery and Investment Act were recently awarded to Contra Costa County for this project. Recovery Act funds are used to support health centers nationwide and expand their capacity to provide primary and preventive health services to medically underserved populations in addition to creating employment opportunities in underserved communities over the next two years. The Recovery Act has provided $1.5 billion nationally in grants to address health center needs, including major construction and renovation. In addition to funds for the new West County facility, Bay Area health centers are in line to receive nearly $6 million in Capital Improvement grants to update equipment and fund construction projects, some of which will benefit Rep. Miller's 7th congressional district.

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