SONOMA COUNTY: Southwest Health Center Has ‘Financial Angel’
Sonoma County's Southwest Community Health Center received a $300,000 gift from an anonymous donor to be used to provide long-term financial stability to the floundering hospital. In November, Southwest announced that a projected $300,000 shortfall might force the clinic to close -- cutting off service to many low-income residents in the Roseland area. President and CEO of the Sonoma County Foundation Kay Marquet said the "financial angel" approached them wanting to help but adamantly asking not to be identified. Marquet added, "They care about the center. They believe it has provided good quality service to a community that needs it." The center must now develop proposals on how to spend the money to present to the board. Marquet said the gift "might be a matching grant, it might be a fund to allow the center to meet expenses, it might be a financial or management audit, or they might think about a merger. This is a luxury that rarely happens." The clinic, funded largely by government and private grants, serves roughly 1,000 people each month, 90% of whom are below the poverty line, and 30% of whom are not covered by an insurance plan, including Medi-Cal (Rose, Santa Rosa Press-Democrat, 1/14).
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