Mountain Family Health Centers
Transaction Profile
$2 Million Loan for Mountain Family Health Centers
New Integrated Health Center for Roaring Fork Valley
Expanding Mountain Family’s integrated, whole-person approach to care was a perfect fit for V-Cap’s Strengthening Primary Care loan program, which provides low-interest, flexible loans with support from the Colorado Health Foundation.
Fast Facts About Mountain Family Health Center
As a federally qualified health center (FQHC), Mountain Family serves patients regardless of their ability to pay. It has received local, state and national accolades for its quality of care and patient advocacy.
Founded in 1978, Mountain Family has grown to ten clinic sites serving Garfield, Eagle, Pitkin and Rio Blanco counties.
While Mountain Family operates on an annual budget of $18 million, its cost-effective care saves the Colorado healthcare system $13 million annually by reducing unnecessary emergency room visits, hospital readmissions and high cost imaging.
When Elizabeth* sought emergency care at a Mountain Family dental clinic for a toothache, her uncontrollable crying worried staff. The dental assistant asked about her pain and Elizabeth shared the real source of her distress: her husband had committed suicide only two days before.
In another healthcare setting, staff may not have been able to do more than offer their condolences. But staff at Mountain Family connected Elizabeth with the clinic’s behavioral health specialist so that she could receive the full range of care she needed.
The integrated care that Mountain Family Health Centers provides to over 20,000 people will be expanded in the new Basalt Health Center. The need is urgent. V-Cap’s $2 million loan means that Mountain Family will open the Basalt clinic in early 2019, even while Mountain Family’s Building Health for All capital campaign continues to raise the necessary funding for the project.
Over the past 40 years, Mountain Family has increased access to high-quality, affordable health care for Roaring Fork Valley residents, with special consideration for people who are medically underserved, regardless of their ability to pay. Mountain Family plays a core role in supporting the local economy, creating jobs and keeping people healthy and productive.
*Name changed to protect patient privacy
“Mountain Family Health Center is a critical community asset providing essential health services to a large segment of the Western Colorado community. Its best practice approach to whole person care, integrated services and peer support also creates high quality jobs with professional development opportunities in the communities they serve.”
— Patrick Gordon Vice President, Rocky Mountain Health Plans
“The care that Mountain Family Health Center provides to over 20,000 people in the Roaring Fork Valley is a model for integrated health care in Colorado. I have seen their work first hand, and their relentless focus on patient-centered care and high quality allows their patients to live healthy and productive lives.”
— Donna Lynne. Lieutenant Governor, State of Colorado
The Basalt Health Center
Mountain Family is investing over $3.4 million to make its new Basalt Integrated Health Center a state-of-the-art facility for people seeking high-quality, integrated primary medical, behavioral and dental care.
Mountain Family has operated a clinic in Basalt since 2011 in a space shared with Aspen Valley Hospital District (AVH). Because the demand for medical, dental, and mental health care has surged—with many families choosing Mountain Family as their medical home—it has outgrown that space. Mountain Family, AVH and Pitkin County worked together to find a larger facility in a nearby building owned by the county. This will allow Mountain Family to provide high-quality, comprehensive care under one roof—serving an additional 1,500 patients in Basalt alone.
Initial support for the project included a grant from the Colorado Health Foundation. Other early supporters include Caring for Colorado, RCG Fund, Aspen Ski Company Community Cares Fund, The Denver Foundation, Alpenglow Foundation, Steelcase and many individual donors.
The V-Cap Loan
V-Cap provided Mountain Family with a $2 million low-interest rate construction/bridge loan, allowing Mountain Family to begin construction on the new Basalt clinic space without delay. V-Cap’s loan is part of its Strengthening Primary Care loan program, made possible with funding from the Colorado Health Foundation .V-Cap made the loan confident that the broad support Mountain Family enjoys in the Roaring Fork Valley would allow Mountain Family to successfully pay down debt from its Building Health for All capital campaign.
“It’s exciting to see Mountain Family’s new health center in Basalt come to fruition. This is an excellent example of expanding high quality integrated care to a community with a significant need for affordable access to care. It’s also an important step toward ensuring Coloradan families in that area have health closer in reach.”
— Erica Snow Portfolio Director, Colorado Health Foundation