The La Pine Community Health Center is nearly doubling its size to meet the growing needs of the community in south Deschutes County.

The $16 million expansion will provide services that patients were heading north to Bend — a 40 minute drive — to receive. The building is expected to be completed in January, but not all new services will be immediately available, said Courtney Ignazzitto, marketing and communications manager for La Pine Community Health Center and a member of the La Pine City Council.

“The community called for it and their voices were heard, that people would like the expansion of health care options in south county,” said Geoff Wullschlager, La Pine city manager.

“The health center expansion will facilitate a higher volume of patients and give the community a sense that there’s health care available.”

Federal funds help serve underinsured

Once complete, the 46,000-square-foot, three-story high health center will be the tallest commercial building in the community of about 2,500 people. As a federally qualified health system, the health center receives funding from the federal government to help cover the cost of serving people who either don’t have insurance or whose benefits leave them with high, out-of-pocket expenses.

Grants and patient insurance also provide a source of revenue.

“Right now we have a lot of services offered, but they’re scattered around south county,” said Dave Gosser, La Pine Community Health Center board of directors president. “This will save time and money for our patients. They won’t have to travel north for imaging.”

The expanded community health center will add:

• A dental clinic
• Imaging that includes mammography, CT scans and ultra sounds
• Four new health care providers
• A entire floor for behavioral health
• And capacity to add an additional 4,600 patient visits

“It will be more convenient for patients,” said Gosser, who has lived in La Pine for 20 years. “Between us and St. Charles we have south county pretty well covered. Everyone in the community seems pretty excited about the construction.”

Talking money

The nonprofit health center reported $9.9 million in revenue, and $7.8 million in expenses in 2022, according to most recent publicly obtained tax reports.

Wages and executive compensation represented more than 50% of the health center’s expenses in 2022, the year financial data are most currently available. The chief executive officer was paid $173,927 in 2022 with $9,607 in other compensation, according to the 2022 public financial report.

The construction of the expansion is being funded by grants from the federal government, the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust and a grant from the MacKenzie Scott Yield Giving foundation, Ignazzitto said. But about 57% of the project still needs funding and the community health center is attempting to raise $5 million in a fundraising campaign, she said.

“The new service line expansion at La Pine Community Health Center means more care for more people closer to home,” said Erin Trapp, health center CEO. “There are so many underserved patients in our service area that need medical care, dental care, and behavioral health services. Having services readily available makes a difference in the health care system and in people’s lives.”

The expansion also has prompted conversations with the La Pine Rural Fire Protection District to find ways to improve care for patients locally, and reduce costly emergency room visits, Trapp said.

Helping the community

Many La Pine residents find themselves having to travel the 40 minute drive to Bend to obtain specialty medical care, Ignazzitto said. With La Pine split on either side of U.S. Highway 97, its medical centers serve people from as far south as Gilchrist and Christmas Valley to the east.

For the past couple of years, the community health center would charter a bus once a year for women to get mammograms, Gosser said. With the expansion, that won’t be necessary, he said.

“These are all new services,” said Ignazzitto. “As a city counselor, we hear from our surrounding areas that are growing rapidly and about the need for these services to be in place.”

St. Charles Health System opened its primary and urgent care clinic in La Pine in 2018. It too heard from community members that there was a need for expanded medical treatment in the community. The health system reported that it was encouraged to establish weekend urgent care services by the La Pine Rural Fire Protection District.

The St. Charles facility offers primary care medical services, radiology and lab services.

Dr. Alwin Borgmann, who has worked at the St. Charles clinic since it opened, said La Pine is a close-knit community.

“There’s something special about working in family medicine in a small community. We get to form connections with our patients as well as their families and neighbors,” said Borgmann. “We know that southern Deschutes County is growing in population, and we are committed to serving this region. We are also thrilled to see additional services like La Pine Community Health Center, come online to support the health care needs of the community.”