In 2023, the NMTC supported the new construction of a 54,000 sq. ft. medical clinic and senior care center in Imperial, CA. The new Federally Qualified Health Center and PACE Senior Care Center (FQHC & PACE Center) allows the project’s sponsor, Innercare, to close healthcare gaps in Imperial County by providing primary care, women’s care, pediatrics, chronic disease management, dental, radiology, integrated behavioral health, pharmacy, and free transportation services.
The new medical facility serves a community where the County’s most recent Community Health Assessment found poorer health conditions compared to the California state averages, including: (1) More severe medical outcomes as a result of asthma, (2) Poorer maternal and child healthcare, (3) Adults with higher rates of diabetes, obesity, smoking patterns, inactive living, and lower fruit & vegetable intake than the general adult population in California.
Other data sources point to a gap in healthcare providers in Imperial. The Health Resources and Services Administration lists the new clinic’s census tract as both a Primary Care and Mental Health Professional Shortage Area. The new Innercare Imperial FQHC and PACE Center will help close these healthcare provider gaps.
Moreover, this facility will service a wide geographic area, positively impacting multiple communities. The PACE center will allow an estimated 85% of elderly patients to remain in their own home, where should they own their home, financial appreciation can continue to build. In addition, it avoids/delays more expensive nursing home care, the cost of which would need to be borne by all residents of California and require a growing tax burden in an already high-tax state.
The project is estimated to create 69 new permanent FTE jobs in year one, growing to 148.4 at capacity.