A host of local officials gathered in a dirt lot on Foster Avenue Tuesday afternoon to get their golden shovels dirty and celebrate the groundbreaking of the state-of-the-art Arcata Community Health Center, which is slated to open in 2023.
Once complete, the 33,000 square-foot facility will use a solar array — and an emergency backup generator — to power 35 exam rooms and a laboratory that will treat an estimated 40,000 patients per year — both adults and children — receiving primary care. The center will consolidate Open Door Community Health Centers’ two existing Arcata clinics — North Country Clinic and Humboldt Open Door Clinic — in a facility that meets “the same standards” as Open Door’s new health centers in Crescent City, Eureka and Fortuna.
Tuesday’s event was closed to the public due to COVID-19 health and safety measures, but featured speakers Third District county Supervisor Mike Wilson, North Coast Assemblymember Jim Wood, Open Door Board Chair Kathleen Moxon, Open Door President Tory Starr and Open Door VP of Operational Development Cheyenne Spetzler.
Construction is slated to begin on the facility next month.
This article appears in Burger Week 2021.
