Santa Rosa Community Health in California. (Credit: Santa Rosa Community Health)
California s Santa Rosa Community Health, a federally qualified health center, serves more than 40,000 uninsured and underinsured people in the greater Santa Rosa area.
THE PROBLEM
In 2017, the Tubbs Fire destroyed 6,000 homes and the provider organization s largest health center, which served half of its patients. The devastation traumatized staff, patients and the community. It took months to put out the fire, and Santa Rosa Community Health had to reorganize on a dime. We opened three new sites within four months, one permanent and two temporary, and had to create a centralized call center, said Naomi Fuchs, CEO of Santa Rosa Community Health. We faced internal IT challenges and financial pressures as we redid our phone and computer systems and opened these new clinics.