Thursday, May 15, 2025
5/15/2025
Congressionally Directed Spending for Construction Projects - Redwoods Rural Health Center (RRHC) Staff Housing Project located at 25 Shady Grove Lane, Redway, CA 95560-0721. Project Director is Terri Klemetson, RRHC Director of Operations. 707-923-7520 terrik@rrhc.org Website: rrhc.org Community Project Grant Funding Request= $775,000. Redwoods Rural Health Center (RRHC) plans to use the Community Project Funding to construct staff housing, specifically 3 one-bedroom units. RRHC is working with Trinity Valley Consulting Engineers and CleekCo Design to design, engineer and bid the Staff Housing Project. The project consists of three 744 s.f. 1 story, 1 bedroom single family residences located at 25 Shady Grove Lane, Redway, CA. This property was purchased by the RRHC Board of Directors years ago as it is strategically directly behind our medical building. The property development will include the mandated parking spaces, EV charging stations, CA new construction residential building code stipulated items such a solar panels and greenspace. The proposed area to be developed covers 20,756 sq. ft of the .67 acres. Since 1976, Redwoods Rural Health Center (RRHC) has served the rural and isolated communities in Southern Humboldt County. RRHC’s mission is, “To provide responsive, preventive, high quality primary health care services, through a variety of healing disciplines, to all people without regard to social or economic status.” RRHC serves a large geographic area – nearly 2,200 square miles in Southern Humboldt County, and the housing stock is inadequate. Staff housing is essential to recruiting and retaining providers in our rural area. According to the Prosperity report, Humboldt County’s Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy 2018-2023, diversified healthcare was identified as a Target of Opportunity. One of the identified strategies to strengthen healthcare was attracting and retaining the needed workforce and specifically addressing infrastructure needs, including housing (quantity and quality). The lack of housing stock in our rural county makes it difficult to attract and retain healthcare employees, especially doctors and nurses. The quality of housing is also important, according to the Humboldt County Community Health Assessment 2018, "In the city of Eureka over 60 percent of the housing stock was built prior to 1960, increasing the occurrence of both substandard housing and potential exposure to lead." The situation is worse in rural southern Humboldt County, where a high percentage of existing housing is not permitted and was not built to code. In the last 5 months, at least one provider refused to live in the local rental that was available. Bringing healthcare providers to southern Humboldt County will reduce the existing health disparities. According to the Humboldt County Community Health Assessment 2018, “Each year in Humboldt County hundreds of individuals die unnecessarily from preventable diseases and conditions. Tackling this issue requires a broad public health perspective, addressing all of the determinants of health: access to care, racism (and other “isms”), personal behavior, social and physical environments, policies and education. Humboldt County as a whole suffers a health disparity when compared to the State of California. We experience a higher burden of death rates overall at 804.4 per 100,000 people, compared to 612.2 statewide. The Humboldt rates for nearly all of the leading causes of death are 2 to 3 times that of the state.” Recruiting providers in order to expand the access to care in our rural area means we need to provide housing.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).