Aviva Health Holding Groundbreaking for New Roseburg Facility

Aviva Health is holding a virtual groundbreaking Wednesday, May 19, for its $16-million, 31,000-sq.-ft., two-story construction project that will add 34 new exam rooms, four procedure rooms, three large conference rooms available for community events, and space enough to house 24 family medicine resident physicians. The groundbreaking, in video format, will be shared publicly via Facebook Wednesday afternoon after a private viewing for Aviva Health staff, Board of Directors and community partners. “While we would have much preferred welcoming guests in-person to our groundbreaking, out of an abundance of caution we chose to go virtual,” says KC Bolton, CEO of Aviva Health. “We’re excited to finally have the opportunity to share publicly our plans to increase access to care in Douglas County.” Construction at Aviva Health’s main Roseburg campus has been underway for several weeks; however, events including the pandemic, wildfires, and other important initiatives, led to a delay in the groundbreaking. “If you’ve been to our main Roseburg campus recently, you’ve seen the tremendous progress that’s been made on the project thus far,” Bolton says. “That in no way dampens our excitement to share with the community the launch of a project that will have a perceptible impact on the people of Douglas County.” At completion, Aviva Health projects it will have the capacity to see an additional 3,300 unduplicated patients totaling 10,000 patient visits annually. In addition to increasing access for Douglas County citizens, the new building will be home to 24 family medicine physician residents when the organization welcomes its third cohort of resident doctors in 2022. It’s Aviva Health’s intention to cajole many of those physicians to put down roots in Douglas County and other rural areas of Oregon, addressing a long-standing need to recruit and retain qualified physicians to practice in regions that have historically been health care provider shortage areas. The first cohort of eight residents started in June 2020, and the second group of new physicians will arrive next month to begin training, bringing the total number of resident physicians to 16. The project will also include a teaching kitchen and three large conference rooms with collapsible sliding doors that when opened will create one large event space that will be available to other community organizations to host special events. The virtual groundbreaking will close with the announcement of another special Aviva Health initiative: The public launch of a $300,000 capital campaign supporting the building project. The organization began the silent phase of the campaign last summer, reaching out to its Board of Directors and staff for support. With contributions from all of its Board members and 100% participation from every department at Aviva Health, coupled with a generous gift from a private donor, the campaign has already raised $200,000 of its goal. Aviva Health is hopeful local businesses and community members will help the organization reach its goal. Two local breweries, Two Shy and Old 99, have already stepped up to support the effort. Specially made beers, “Building Brown” at Two Shy, and “Never Ail India Pale Ale” at Old 99, are available for purchase by the pint at those respective breweries with a portion of the proceeds from each sale being directed to the capital campaign. “Old 99 and Two Shy regularly step up to the plate to help the people of Douglas County, and their contribution to our project is greatly appreciated,” Bolton says. “They’re really representative of our broader community, which has come to be known for its generous support of important causes.” Along with the funds raised through the capital campaign, Aviva Health has approached and continues to reach out to several private foundations for added support. Aviva Health itself is directing $1 million in reserves to the project and secured an additional $2.7 million in New Market Tax Credit funding. Aviva Health was also awarded in excess of $7 million in program grant funding from federal and state agencies, along with a $400,000 gift from Umpqua Health Alliance. The project will also be a boon to the local economy. In addition to creating several short-term construction jobs, Aviva Health will add as many as 52 new permanent, full-time positions when the building opens. A recent study by Capital Link shows Aviva Health’s total annual economic impact to the community is $32.1 million. That same study indicates the organization is responsible for $27 million in savings to the local health care system. Via Aviva Health