La Maestra Community Health Centers has completed the underwriting of an $18.5 million bond initiative to support the construction of a new "green" health center.
When completed, the 34,660 square-foot environmentally friendly facility will house more than 200 staff members and support more than 100,000 patient visits annually in the City Heights neighborhood of San Diego.
"We are very pleased this bond underwriting has been completed," said Zara Marselian, CEO for La Maestra. "The favorable long-term financing will allow us to construct our new healthcare center while we continue our fundraising efforts. We are halfway toward our campaign goal and will begin construction on our new facility next month."
The facility is expected to be among the first community clinics in the nation to seek the Gold LEED certification through the United States Green Building Council. LEED is the acronym for the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design green building rating system. It is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high-performance green buildings.
La Maestra registered the health center project with the USGBC in 2004.
The new building will showcase state-of-the-art, energy-efficient and environmentally responsible materials, fixtures and operations. Currently there are no Gold Certified healthcare facilities in San Diego.
"Our board concluded that by consolidating our City Heights sites into one centralized 'green' location we could improve care delivery, expand capacity to serve more patients and have a positive impact on the area environmentally and economically as its largest employer," Marselian said.
Bond financing for the project was made possible via the Anthem Blue Cross "Investment in a Healthy California Program." As part of a 2004 merger, Anthem Blue Cross, Anthem Blue Cross Life and Health and Golden West Dental & Vision maintain a $200 million investment portfolio to provide investment capital to healthcare providers serving low-income urban and rural California communities.
Anthem Blue Cross collaborated with California's Department of Managed Health Care, the California Department of Insurance and the IHCP advisory committee to ensure the program succeeded in meeting the objectives outlined by the merger agreement.
"Our patient population is the uninsured," Marselian said. "We provide care and services to more than 19 different ethnic groups - arguably the most diverse concentrated population in the county. We have seen double-digit increases each year for the past five years for the demands of our services."
La Maestra sees more than 65,000 patient visits per year with a staff of 147 doctors, nurses, counselors and social workers. The organization currently provides services through an assortment of 14 converted residential buildings on a single city block in City Heights.