Our clinics exist in Imperial County and Riverside County. We first started services in Imperial County, but Riverside County had a great need for telehealth services. We started our expansion into Riverside County as we began working with the California Telehealth Resource Center (CTRC) on their Sustainable Models of Telehealth in the Safety Net (SMTSN) initiative.

One of our rural clinics in Riverside County is in Mecca CA. This clinic has a large migrant population with great need for services and limited access to specialty care. Working with our partners [CTRC] we were able to obtain Telehealth equipment and staffing to provide Retinal, Psychiatry and Dermatology services. Once this site was deployed, it served as a launch pad for providing services to other clinics in Riverside County clinics in Coachella and Hemet.

The knowledge and help provided by the CTRC project has helped us in many ways as we applied for grants, training, and deployment of services. The lessons we’ve learned while establishing and growing our telehealth program are now being applied to the new changes brought about by COVID-19 where we have found the safest way to provide primary care for our patients is through virtual visits.