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North Coast Rep. Jared Huffman announced yesterday the awarding of more than $2 million in funding for local health centers through the $2 trillion CARES Act aimed at halting some of the economic fallout from COVID-19..

“This funding, successfully negotiated by Democrats in the recent CARES Act, is a huge win for our frontline health care workers fighting to protect communities from COVID-19,” Huffman said in a press release. “Many of my constituents rely on community health centers for care, and this funding will support the testing, supplies, telehealth services, and staffing all needed to ensure we can care for the safety and well-being of the community.”

Specifically, the allocation through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services included $1.5 million for Open Door Community Health Centers, more than $600,000 for the Redwoods Rural Health Center in Redway and nearly $600,000 for the Karuk Tribe.

Tim Rine, executive director of the North Coast Clinics Network, a consortium of about a dozen community health centers, referred to this as the "first phase of the CARES Act" and said it's bringing much needed funding into the centers at a time when they've seen significant drops in patient visits due to COVID-19.

"This first phase also provides some opportunities for much needed telehealth technologies ($200 million) as we try to temporarily transition away from traditional face-to-face encounters for these new virtual visits," Rine said in an email to the Journal, before stressing that he hopes this is part of a continued investment.

“The health centers on the North Coast provide a primary care back-bone for our communities and they are strategic partners with our local hospitals, county health officials and the private providers," he said. "Being able to offer services during these unusual times is extremely important and the CARES Act provides some initial investments for providers to assist in meeting the demand. We are hopeful that Congress can continue to invest in the needed infrastructure for the health delivery system to meet the challenges ahead in dealing with this virus. The North Coast health providers are a resilient and innovative group and I know our community fully supports the medical community through these challenging times.”

Meanwhile, a bill that would allocate a second round of COVID-19 aid stalled in the Senate yesterday when Democrats refused to support the legislation, which would have increased funding for a small business loan program, unless it included additional funding for health care providers, as well as state and local governments.

See the full press release from Huffman's office copied below:

Huffman Celebrates Funding for 2nd District Health Centers

San Rafael, CA ­– This week, federal funding from the CARES Act was awarded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). More than $1.3 billion in congressionally directed funding is being awarded to 1,387 health centers nationwide to improve their resources in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

“This funding, successfully negotiated by Democrats in the recent CARES Act, is a huge win for our frontline health care workers fighting to protect communities from COVID-19,” said Rep. Huffman. “Many of my constituents rely on community health centers for care, and this funding will support the testing, supplies, telehealth services, and staffing all needed to ensure we can care for the safety and well-being of the community.”

The funding for California’s Second Congressional District has been awarded as follows:

$744,770 to Alliance Medical Center, Inc. in Healdsburg
$554,705 to Anderson Valley Health Center in Boonville
$587,960 to Coastal Health Alliance in Point Reyes Station
$581,450 to Coppertower Family Medical Center Inc in Cloverdale
$576,815 to the Karuk Tribe
$559,460 to Long Valley Health Center in Laytonville
$573,380 to Marin City Health And Wellness Center in Sausalito
$1,327,265 to Marin Community Clinic in Novato
$699,215 to Mendocino Coast Clinics, Inc. in Fort Bragg
$1,097,105 to Mendocino Community Health Clinic, Inc. in Ukiah
$1,463,000 to Open Door Community Health Centers in Arcata
$1,226,255 to Petaluma Health Center, Inc. in Petaluma
$611,030 to Redwood Coast Medical Services Inc in Gualala
$619,175 to Redwoods Rural Health Center, Incorporated in Redway
$528,650 to Ritter Center in San Rafael
$579,245 to Southern Trinity Health Services in Mad River
$717,800 to West County Health Centers, Inc. in Guerneville


More information on this funding can be found on HRSA’s website here.