Marillac Health

Background Statement

MarillacHealth is Mesa County’s Community Health Center, providing integrated primary medical, dental and behavioral health care to 12,000 patients annually. Ours is a unique health care facility due to the integration of multiple services under one roof, coupled with a sliding fee scale. These elements combine to offer an accessible, affordable and successful model of health care for persons struggling financially.

Since opening its doors in 1988 as a safety net health clinic that served only those without insurance, Marillac has responded to the troubling gaps, barriers and disparities that prevent people from receiving health care. Our ability to do this was enhanced and expanded when we became a Federally Qualified Health Center in 2015, allowing us to expand service to insured as well as uninsured residents.

Marillac cares for patients at five permanent locations, making it easier for patients to access care. Our Main Clinic as well as our clinic co-located in the Mesa County Health Services Center provide medical, dental, and behavioral care. Two dental hygienists are embedded in a local pediatric medical facility, where they educate parents and kids, as well as screen for oral health concerns in children, treating them on the spot and/or referring them to further treatment as needed. Preventative medical and dental screenings are offered each week for persons who are unhoused at the Catholic Outreach Day Center. We also operate a full-service school-based health center at Central High School. The Warrior Wellness Center is open to students and staff during the school year and in summer with limited hours. And we provide pop-up health screening events for migrant workers throughout the growing season and in other locations as requested, all in an effort to make ‘getting’ health care as easy as possible.

However, the need for care is beyond our capacity to provide it in these current spaces. Simply put, we have no more room to care for more patients. That is why, for the first time in our 34-year history, we are in a campaign to build a new building. Calling the campaign “New Doors to Health”, this 26,000-SF capital expansion/construction project will open primary medical, dental, behavioral and pharmacy services to another 5,800 Mesa County residents. The care center will be located Clifton, Colorado (adjacent to the proposed Clifton Community Campus) -- an area notoriously overlooked and under-resourced. Unlike the cities of Grand Junction and Fruita where there are abundant health care choices, Clifton is devoid of primary care and specialty care. This landmark project will change all that. Learn more about the project and the impact it will have on our community at Clifton Health Center Capital Campaign (marillachealth.org).

Marillac is the trusted healthcare home for many in our community. As a private, non-profit organization supported by donors, foundations, government health agencies, corporate and community partnerships, and patient revenue, Marillac has been enabled and profoundly privileged to serve more than 100,000 individuals over 34 years--including migrant workers/families, persons who are homeless, seniors/elderly, people between jobs and proud families striving to make ends meet on modest incomes. Everyone in Mesa County deserves access to affordable, high quality health care, and that can be found at Marillac.