When Nick Lopez thinks about the way forward for the Petaluma Well being Middle, his thoughts invariably wanders into the previous.
Lopez, the director of development for the middle, which serves practically 40,000 sufferers throughout Sonoma and Marin counties, stated medical suppliers have misplaced energy in recent times throughout proactive PG&E grid shutdowns. So when a chance to hunt federal funding for photo voltaic panels and battery backups, there was little hesitation on the a part of Lopez and his fellow officers at Petaluma Well being Middle.
The consequence, which Rep. Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, touted throughout a tour of the power final week, is a $1.6 million federal grant to assemble photo voltaic carports on the heart’s Petaluma campus, saving the nonprofit supplier as a lot as $75,000 per thirty days on utility payments and bolstering the middle’s capacity to serve residents even throughout disasters.
“For us, the photo voltaic panel mission actually is a technique to future-proof our care,” Lopez stated. “When there are shut-offs, (this mission) makes positive we will preserve serving the group.”
It additionally stands to supply one-third of electrical energy wants on the Petaluma campus whereas eliminating 450 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually, in line with paperwork related to the mission.
For Lopez, the transfer matches with a district that already leverages a cellular unit to succeed in sufferers who can’t make it to one of many heart’s 10 bodily places.
“It’s complementary. Whether or not the barrier is an influence shutoff or transportation to one in all our well being facilities, we’re creating methods to have the ability to proceed serving our sufferers,” Lopez stated.
The intersection of community-centered healthcare, catastrophe resiliency and climate-focused growth pushed Huffman to prioritize funding for the well being heart in what was the primary alternative for Congressional earmarks in a decade.
The long-vilified appropriations course of, outlawed for the previous 10 years, returned in force this year with further safeguards, and Huffman cheered the return, and his capacity to form change on the house entrance as a part of the $1.5 trillion federal spending invoice signed earlier this month.
Huffman spent a lot of final week championing the $11.5 million in group mission funding he helped safe all through his district – from a well being clinic in Humboldt County to meal supply programming by way of the Ceres Group Mission in Sebastopol. Different earmarks embrace funding for the Marine Mammal Middle and the Gulf of the Farallones Nationwide Marine Sanctuary.
“As an elected consultant, I hear about group wants, and I’m nearer to the group than bureaucrats in Washington that may in any other case make these funding choices,” Huffman stated.
Throughout his Petaluma tour March 21, Huffman was impressed by the well being heart’s “cutting-edge tools” and “stunning examination rooms,” which he stated had been justifiably on par with the dignity and excessive customary of care in additional prosperous communities.
“I used to be actually excited to have the ability to do one thing like this that considerably boosts their backside line, and likewise helps them be a part of our clear power targets,” Huffman stated.
Tiffany Jimenez, the Petaluma Well being Care Middle’s chief working officer, labored carefully with Huffman’s workplace to safe the funding. In a press release, Jimenez known as the mission a essential effort to guard entry to care.
“This photo voltaic panel mission is a proactive and necessary step in defending our capacity to supply care throughout pure disasters or energy outages that disrupt our entry to electrical energy, whereas concurrently lowering our carbon footprint,” Jimenez stated. “It is a promise of well being for our sufferers, and it is a promise of well being for the environment.”
Tyler Silvy is editor of the Petaluma Argus-Courier. Attain him at tyler.silvy@arguscourier.com, 707-776-8458, or @tylersilvy on Twitter.
