Second Loveland Community Health Center to open in north Loveland

LOVELAND — Clients that would otherwise use services at the Loveland Community Health Center often don’t have the rides or means to get from north to south Loveland — soon they’ll have another option closer to home.

“Part of the challenge is location,” said Mitzi Moran, CEO of Sunrise Community Health, which operates Loveland Community Health Center at 302 Third St. SE. “People in north Loveland who struggle with transportation struggle getting to the south Loveland location.”

By April 2025, Sunrise Community Health will be able to serve more clients across all of Loveland when the first phase of the Loveland Community Health Center North opens at 201 W. 69th Court with room to triple its operational capacity in two additional phases. At 22,500 square feet, the north campus will be similar to the facility to the south, providing medical, dental and behavioral health care services, care management and health education.

“We’re excited to come alongside (Sunrise) for a third time to prioritize community health,” said Kara Pappas, executive director of the McKee Wellness Foundation. “We have a long-standing legacy of partnership to ensure individuals have access to primary and dental care, prescription support, mental health care and wraparound support services at a price point that’s obtainable to them.”

The first phase of the north campus will include 12 medical exam rooms and four dental chairs and will be about a third of the size of the south campus, which has 36 exam rooms and 11 dental chairs. The first phase eventually will be able to serve 5,000 individual clients, cared for by a staff of 35, including five full-time clinicians of physicians and advanced practice providers. 

“We will open with two clinicians and build as people respond and come to the clinic,” Moran said.

In the second phase another 12 exam rooms will be added, along with three dental chairs, while the third phase will include further expansion of the medical exam rooms and dental chairs, made possible through a physical addition to the building.

The cost of the first two phases is $15.3 million, including $6.26 million that’s already been secured through funding from Sunrise’s reserves, the American Rescue Plan Act and a $3 million gift from the MacKenzie Scott Foundation. 

The McKee Wellness Foundation, in operation for 43 years, provided another $2 million in support of its mission to support crisis health and dental care, mental and cognitive health. So far the foundation has sourced $200,000 for its three-year campaign.

“We are inviting the community to be part of this effort, because community health impacts everyone in all spaces of a community,” Pappas said. “What we hear from donors — the people who support this type of work — is that it takes healthy individuals and healthy families to have a healthy community.”

A healthy community needs access to affordable healthcare so that the individuals who live there can address concerns quickly rather than delaying getting treatment, she said. The idea is for their care to be preventative with chronic disease management and acute care as needed, instead of requiring ad-hoc visits to the emergency department. 

“Having a strong community health center that serves underinsured and uninsured helps patients access affordable care, so they can be the healthiest they can be, so they can work and care for their families and avoid emergency room use,” Moran said.

“When I speak to donors about the foundation about the projects most important to them over the years, they mention the Community Health Center because they see how worthwhile it is,” Pappas said. “Twenty-plus years of having community health accessible in a community makes it more vibrant and healthier.”

The McKee Wellness Foundation also recognizes that Loveland is growing and wants to help Sunrise Community Health scale to support that growth The foundation was directly connected to the McKee Medical Center in Loveland, but in 2021 separated from any hospital or health system, operating as an independent public charity to bridge financial and operational gaps in health and wellness across Larimer and Weld counties.

The foundation identified several of those gaps through a comprehensive community assessment conducted in 2024, discussing key concerns with those working in health care, senior care and education. The key concerns include health care affordability, transportation access, mental and cognitive health, collaboration among providers to avoid duplication of efforts, and a health-care workforce shortage.

“The Loveland Community Health Center addresses every single one of those areas,” Pappas said. “We’re breaking down barriers preventing people from living their healthiest lives.”

What also emerged from the community assessment was the foundation’s Next Frontier initiative, an effort to consolidate 33 funds and programs into five focus areas that address the community’s most pressing health and wellness needs. Those include cancer care, crisis health and dental support, mental and cognitive health support, cardiac health and veterans’ care. 

“We’re working with a variety of entities in the community to ensure we’re not duplicating efforts, not allowing individuals to not slip through the cracks and coming together to solve the challenges facing Northern Colorado from a health and wellness perspective,” Pappas said.

One area of consistent support for the Loveland Community Health Center is the McKee Wellness Foundation. 

As part of the partnership, McKee provided capital funding and Sunrise conducted operations. The foundation initiated the capital campaign in 1997 for the original location downtown and in 2014 for the current location further south. 

The foundation also supports Sunrise by eliminating additional barriers to treatment, providing funds for rent, car payments and utilities, so that clients can pay their bills and still get medical services, Pappas said.

“Our goal is to ensure that getting well or getting treatment is not cost-prohibitive,” she said. “We recognize so many in our community forgo the life-saving treatment they need because they’re concerned about paying their heating bill.”

The existing south Loveland campus serves nearly 10,000 unduplicated clients a year in 36 exam rooms, divided into three pods. One of the pods recently added pediatric care, provided by Dr. Brian Money, a pediatric hospitalist. The north campus eventually may provide pediatric care as determined by need. 

“The Loveland Community Health Center would not exist without support from the community and McKee Wellness Foundation,” Moran said.

Donors have the opportunity to secure a naming agreement with a sizable donation to the Loveland Community Health Center North project, Pappas said. For more information about this and other donation opportunities, contact the McKee Wellness Foundation at info@mckeefoundationco.com or 970-617-5975.

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