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You know how it feels to work really hard day in and day out, in serving others, and you think nobody has noticed.
Then one day when people do take note, you just feel so good about what you're doing.
That's how the staff of the Umpqua Community Health Center felt Wednesday when some 75 people showed up for the groundbreaking of their new facility on the Jerry Bruce Community Campus in north Roseburg.
Under a beautiful blue summer sky, community leaders, elected officials, the health center board members, their fundraisers and their new neighbors gathered at the nonprofits campus for the event.
It was good to see so many people take time out of their busy day to recognize the importance of this clinic to our community.
Many were there because they believe in the center's mission — to provide health care to those who are uninsured or underinsured while also providing another option for those who are fortunate enough to be able to afford private health insurance.
The new health center, a $4.4 million project that will result in a 19,560-square-foot medical and dental clinic is expected to take about nine months to complete. Roseburg architect Paul Bentley designed the building and Guion Randol, also of Roseburg, is the construction project manager.
“We try to do local as much as possible,” said the clinic's Chief Executive Officer Linda Mullins.
The clinic has been at least 10 years in the making. It will allow the health center staff to leave its leased, cramped and inefficient quarters on Umpqua Street in Roseburg and move into its own modern building.
Trading the center's lease payments for its own mortgage will immediately bring cost savings, Mullins said, and allow the center to spend more on health care for its patients.
Complete ownership of the new building will come a bit sooner than anticipated thanks to another announcement Mullins was able to make Wednesday. The center has been awarded an additional $500,000 in federal stimulus funds specifically for building and capital improvements.
The center will use the funds to chip away at its low-interest loan that allowed the building project to move forward before all of the money was in place.
The stimulus funds match the $500,000 that fundraising leaders Jacky and Rick Sohn and Jean Burpee were able to collect from the community. The speakers at the groundbreaking acknowledged the role of our generous and giving community in building this facility, especially remarkable in these economic times.
Douglas County Commissioner Doug Robertson thanked the late Kenneth Ford and Jerry Bruce, two local businessmen, who originally had the vision for the nonprofits campus, as well as the Engle family who owned the land, for making the project possible. The clinic joins the Family Development Center, United Community Action Network, the FISH food pantry and David's House to bring what County Commissioner Susan Morgan called “a constellation of services” for our county residents.
Allyn Ford, representing the Roseburg-based Ford Family Foundation, highlighted the importance of the clinic, where patients often pay what they can afford. And Mullins noted the patients' payments add up to 30 percent of the clinic's revenue.
“It's about working with people to maintain their integrity and pride,” Ford said. “It's helping people help themselves.”
Particularly during this time when so many individuals and families lack health insurance, Douglas County residents are so fortunate to have Umpqua Community Health Center. We applaud those who donated funds and had the vision to make the new clinic a reality.
Then one day when people do take note, you just feel so good about what you're doing.
That's how the staff of the Umpqua Community Health Center felt Wednesday when some 75 people showed up for the groundbreaking of their new facility on the Jerry Bruce Community Campus in north Roseburg.
Under a beautiful blue summer sky, community leaders, elected officials, the health center board members, their fundraisers and their new neighbors gathered at the nonprofits campus for the event.
It was good to see so many people take time out of their busy day to recognize the importance of this clinic to our community.
Many were there because they believe in the center's mission — to provide health care to those who are uninsured or underinsured while also providing another option for those who are fortunate enough to be able to afford private health insurance.
The new health center, a $4.4 million project that will result in a 19,560-square-foot medical and dental clinic is expected to take about nine months to complete. Roseburg architect Paul Bentley designed the building and Guion Randol, also of Roseburg, is the construction project manager.
“We try to do local as much as possible,” said the clinic's Chief Executive Officer Linda Mullins.
The clinic has been at least 10 years in the making. It will allow the health center staff to leave its leased, cramped and inefficient quarters on Umpqua Street in Roseburg and move into its own modern building.
Trading the center's lease payments for its own mortgage will immediately bring cost savings, Mullins said, and allow the center to spend more on health care for its patients.
Complete ownership of the new building will come a bit sooner than anticipated thanks to another announcement Mullins was able to make Wednesday. The center has been awarded an additional $500,000 in federal stimulus funds specifically for building and capital improvements.
The center will use the funds to chip away at its low-interest loan that allowed the building project to move forward before all of the money was in place.
The stimulus funds match the $500,000 that fundraising leaders Jacky and Rick Sohn and Jean Burpee were able to collect from the community. The speakers at the groundbreaking acknowledged the role of our generous and giving community in building this facility, especially remarkable in these economic times.
Douglas County Commissioner Doug Robertson thanked the late Kenneth Ford and Jerry Bruce, two local businessmen, who originally had the vision for the nonprofits campus, as well as the Engle family who owned the land, for making the project possible. The clinic joins the Family Development Center, United Community Action Network, the FISH food pantry and David's House to bring what County Commissioner Susan Morgan called “a constellation of services” for our county residents.
Allyn Ford, representing the Roseburg-based Ford Family Foundation, highlighted the importance of the clinic, where patients often pay what they can afford. And Mullins noted the patients' payments add up to 30 percent of the clinic's revenue.
“It's about working with people to maintain their integrity and pride,” Ford said. “It's helping people help themselves.”
Particularly during this time when so many individuals and families lack health insurance, Douglas County residents are so fortunate to have Umpqua Community Health Center. We applaud those who donated funds and had the vision to make the new clinic a reality.
