LIVE OAK — Sutter Health has invested $1 million during the next five years to support Santa Cruz Community Health and Dientes Community Dental Care in the construction and operation of their Live Oak health and housing campus, Dientes announced Friday.
The campus at 1500 Capitola Road will be comprised of a 20,000-square-foot medical clinic operated by Santa Cruz Community Health and an 11,000-square-foot dental clinic run by Dientes. MidPen Housing is the third owner of the campus. The project aims to increase access to healthcare, grow affordable housing and create economic opportunity. It will provide health services for up to 10,000 patients annually and affordable housing for 57 households, according to a Dientes press release. The project will also create more than 60 new jobs.
This project is the first of its kind in the county, according to the release, because it offers health care and housing on the same campus.
“It’s an amazing opportunity to provide more access to medical and dental care to the Live oak community and greater Santa Cruz County community,” said Dientes CEO Laura Marcus.
Santa Cruz County Health will receive $160,000 and Dientes will receive $40,000 each year for five years through 2023, according to the release.
“As a not-for-profit health network, Sutter focuses on improving the health of those inside and outside the walls of our hospitals and care centers,” said Stephen Gray, chief administrative officer for Sutter Maternity & Surgery Center of Santa Cruz and Palo Alto Medical Foundation in the release. “We know that when people have access to preventive screening and routine healthcare, their health improves. This investment builds on Sutter’s commitment to improve the health of the entire community we serve.”
Dientes and Santa Cruz Community Health will break ground on their clinic in 2020 and open in 2021. MidPen will break ground on the housing component in 2021 and open in 2022.
“Projects like this one can transform communities. This initiative will bring affordable healthcare and housing to the heart of Live Oak – providing a lifeline to families, adults and seniors,” said Santa Cruz County Health CEO Leslie Conner in the release. “We hope the early funding we’ve secured will be a catalyst for more donations in the coming weeks and months.”
