In response to the closing of the county’s outpatient community clinic, we opened Mendocino Community Health Clinic, Inc. During our first ten years, we grew from one site to three and from 70 patient visits per day to almost 400.

Here are some highlights:

• In 1992, we were certified as a Federally Qualified Health Clinic (FQHC). This permitted us to begin billing Medi-Cal and Medicare, thus establishing a sustaining income stream.

• In 1994, we moved to 333 Laws Avenue in Ukiah. Today, this site houses Hillside Health Center and our administrative offices.

• In 1999, we opened Lakeside (now Lakeview) Health Center in Lakeport. We purchased a van and began a “health taxi” service to address the lack of local transportation. We provided primary medical care and expanded rapidly to meet the high demand for dental services, HIV care and mental health treatment.

• In 1999, we were awarded our first accreditation by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), meeting many of the nation’s most rigorous standards for healthcare quality.

• In 2000, we received funding from the Ryan White CARE Act to participate in the HIV Collaborative, a research project that taught our staff how to collect disease-relevant data and use it to improve outcomes for HIV/AIDS patients. Since then, we have been at the forefront of HIV care in our region.