Marillac Health

Background Statement

MarillacHealth is a Community Health Center, providing integrated primary medical, dental and behavioral health care to over 13,000 patients annually. Ours is a unique health care facility due to the integration of multiple services under one organization, coupled with the offer of 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: affordability and accessibility. Our ability to do this was enhanced and expanded when we became a Federally Qualified Health Center in 2015, allowing us to extend service to insured as well as uninsured residents.

Marillac cares for patients at seven permanent locations, making it easier for patients to access care. In Mesa County, all services are offered at 2333 N. 6th Street, 2139 N. 12th Street, and 510 29 1/2 Road Clinic (within the Mesa County Health Services Center), and in Montrose, at the former PIC Place at 87 Merchant Drive. One dental hygienist is embedded in a local pediatric medical facility, where parents and children receive education about oral health care, in addition to fluoride varnish application on the spot and/or further treatment referrals as needed. Acute medical and dental screenings are offered each week for persons who are unhoused at the Catholic Outreach Day Center. We also operate health centers at Grand Junction and Central High Schools, providing primary medical, behavioral health and oral health care services to students and staff.

In addition to these locations, we provide pop-up health screening events for migrant farm workers throughout the growing season and in other locations as requested, all in an effort to make ‘getting’ health care as easy as possible.

Not surprisingly, the need for care is beyond our capacity to provide it in the current spaces in Mesa County. Simply put, we have no more room to care for more patients. That is why, for the first time in our 36-year history, we are in a campaign to build a new building. Calling the campaign “New Doors to Health”, this 27,000-SF capital expansion/construction project will open primary medical, dental, behavioral and pharmacy services to another 3,000 new patients. The care center will be located on 4.5 acres north of the existing Mesa County Workforce Center and Community Services Campus, an area already utilized by many to access health, food, and employment resources. The campus is centrally located to serve Fruitvale, Clifton and Palisade, the area where most of our patients reside, along with patients from Grand Junction and Fruita. This new building will offer all of our current services with the addition of a walk-in and drive-up pharmacy offering discounted medications to both Marillac patients and the public. Learn more about the project and the impact it will have on our community at New 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 served hundreds of thousands of individuals over 35 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.