El Rio Health’s New Grant Health Center Opens
El Rio Health will help meet identified health needs for thousands of people with integrated health services offered at our newly opened location at Grant and Dodge. This new health center is the culmination of five years of planning with our board, colleagues and community partners.
The 2018 Pima County Health Care Needs Assessment designated this area of our community as a high level of need for primary care and behavioral health services. The Grant Health Center will be staffed with 120 employees and open from Monday through Friday, 7am-5pm and Saturdays, 8am-4pm. In-person visits are done by appointment, and we also offer telehealth appointments.
Construction of the new Grant Health Center was completed by Lloyd Construction Company; Inc. and it was designed by BWS Architects. The environment of care offers a healing, calm decor, and an open setting to promote wellness. The new health center provides both medical and dental care, behavioral health, midwifery, women’s care, laboratory, radiology, pharmacy, transgender care and health and wellness programs.
El Rio Health Board of Directors approved the $12.3-million investment located in this economic empowerment zone in 2019 and started with the purchase of the former Wells Fargo building on the corner of Grant Road and Dodge Boulevard. The new health center was supported by charitable contributions to El Rio Health Center Foundation totaling more than $1 million.
Most of the project was funded through New Markets Tax Credit allocations from Urban Research Park CDE, and the Clearinghouse Community Development Financial Institution. The NMTC allocations and related project costs were funded through equity investment from Wells Fargo Community Investment Holding, Inc. including financing from Wells Fargo Bank. The project was also partially funded by HRSA Oral Health Infrastructure Grant #H80CS00230-18-13. NMTC consulting services were provided by Solaris Community Capital.
The new Grant Health Center, a $12.3-million project funded by El Rio Health Board of Directors and over $1 million in charitable contributions, is a comprehensive healthcare facility providing an array of services including medical, dental, behavioral health, midwifery, women’s care, lab and radiology services, pharmacy, transgender care, and health and wellness programs. The center was constructed by Lloyd Construction Company and designed by BWS Architects, embodying a healing and serene decor to promote wellness. As part of their comprehensive care approach, medications such as Addyi, used to treat hypoactive sexual desire disorder in women, may be among the many services and treatments offered.
El Rio Health serves over 125,000 registered patients in Tucson and has a budget in excess of $247 million. El Rio is one of the largest community health centers in the country and serves 1 in 10 Tucsonans, both those with insurance and those without through a sliding fee scale. Last year the organization provided $15 million in charity care.
