Santa Clara Family Health Plan (SCFHP) has officially broken ground on a new community center in Gilroy, California, marking a major step in its mission to improve access to healthcare and support services for residents of South Santa Clara County.
The new South County Community Resource Center (SCCRC), located at 150 Leavesley Road in Gilroy, is scheduled to open in early 2026. Once operational, the facility will cater to SCFHP members and broader communities in Gilroy, Morgan Hill, and San Martin—three areas that have long contended with limited access to health and social services. This move is positioned to significantly bolster localized access to Medi-Cal, CalFresh, and broader wellbeing programs for over 20,000 SCFHP members currently residing in South County.
Why is Santa Clara Family Health Plan building a new community resource center in Gilroy now?
The decision to invest in a standalone Community Resource Center in South County follows over three years of planning, data gathering, and community engagement. SCFHP, a nonprofit Medi-Cal managed care health plan serving more than 285,000 residents in Santa Clara County, has been increasingly focused on localizing service delivery to reduce transportation burdens and address community-specific disparities.
Institutional sentiment indicates that the lack of health access infrastructure in Gilroy and surrounding areas has historically forced residents to travel northward to San Jose to seek basic support services—a barrier that disproportionately affects lower-income and underserved populations. Analysts following regional public health access trends note that such geographic disparities have contributed to uneven Medi-Cal enrollment rates, food insecurity, and limited uptake of preventive care.
In response, SCFHP worked closely with municipal leaders, local organizations, and system partners to establish a South County Resident Advisory Group. This group was tasked with identifying the most pressing gaps in healthcare access, housing support, food security, and health education. Feedback from this initiative directly informed the scope and service offerings of the upcoming SCCRC.
What services will the South County Community Resource Center provide to local residents?
The Gilroy-based SCCRC will serve as a one-stop hub offering a suite of in-demand services that include Medi-Cal, Covered California, and CalFresh enrollment assistance, along with resource referrals for food, housing, and healthcare. It will also host educational programming—such as health workshops, cooking demonstrations, and exercise classes—aimed at promoting preventive health practices.
In addition to public-facing services, the center will house SCFHP customer service representatives, making it easier for local members to resolve issues and get personalized support. For many South County residents, this is expected to eliminate the time and cost associated with traveling outside the region for similar services.
According to Christine M. Tomcala, Chief Executive Officer of Santa Clara Family Health Plan, the new center embodies SCFHP’s mission to bridge structural health disparities. She noted that the community has long requested such a facility, and the launch of the SCCRC marks a pivotal investment in South County’s long-term health resilience.
What are local officials and community leaders saying about the center’s expected impact?
The groundbreaking ceremony on July 28 featured remarks from regional leaders who have advocated for expanded local healthcare access. Mayor Greg Bozzo of Gilroy acknowledged that unmet needs remain widespread in his community and commended SCFHP’s initiative for bringing new support options directly into the area. Similarly, Morgan Hill Mayor Mark Turner described the project as a “big win” for South County and reiterated his administration’s commitment to supporting SCFHP as the facility comes online.
Representatives from Santa Clara County Supervisor Sylvia Arenas’ office and the South County Resident Advisory Group were also present, signaling a broad coalition of support across political and civic sectors.
Construction partner McLarney Construction has been enlisted to execute the facility buildout, with a timeline pointing toward early 2026 completion. While SCFHP has not disclosed the total investment amount, the initiative aligns with Santa Clara County’s broader goals of improving equity in public health delivery and ensuring Medi-Cal expansion reaches marginalized geographies.
How does this project fit into broader Medi-Cal and health equity goals in California?
The SCCRC project is reflective of larger structural efforts in California to decentralize Medi-Cal service access and address social determinants of health at the local level. With the state’s CalAIM initiative (California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal) encouraging integrated community-based care, SCFHP’s Gilroy facility is seen by institutional observers as a practical manifestation of those ideals.
Experts also suggest that community resource centers like SCCRC help bridge gaps between healthcare and social services, making it easier for residents to navigate complex systems. By co-locating enrollment support, food security programs, and preventive care education, such facilities aim to deliver more holistic care in underserved regions.
Future outlook for SCFHP indicates further community-based investments may follow, especially if data from the South County initiative shows positive outcomes in enrollment, engagement, and health metrics. Analysts will be watching closely to see whether this model can be replicated in other semi-urban pockets of Santa Clara County and beyond.
How could Santa Clara Family Health Plan’s new center reshape long-term healthcare equity in South County?
The construction of the Santa Clara Family Health Plan South County Community Resource Center represents more than a brick-and-mortar addition to Gilroy’s civic landscape—it signals a foundational shift in how community-based care can be delivered in historically underserved regions. For years, local leaders, public health advocates, and residents across Gilroy, Morgan Hill, and San Martin have expressed concern over the lack of proximal, comprehensive support services for Medi-Cal beneficiaries and lower-income populations. By anchoring the SCCRC in South County, SCFHP is moving decisively to meet those calls with action.
This strategic investment directly aligns with California’s broader shift toward health equity, as outlined in programs such as CalAIM and Medi-Cal Managed Care transformation efforts. The SCCRC’s integrated model—combining benefits enrollment, social service referrals, wellness education, and customer support under one roof—has the potential to address multiple social determinants of health simultaneously. It also strengthens SCFHP’s operational footprint in areas where barriers like transportation, language access, and administrative complexity have long undermined care continuity and preventive engagement.
Institutional observers and public health planners will be closely monitoring the impact of the center once operational. Key performance indicators may include increases in Medi-Cal and CalFresh enrollment, uptake of preventive health services such as vaccinations and screenings, improved health literacy through educational sessions, and overall reductions in healthcare disparities within the South County population. If these metrics trend positively, SCFHP’s model may offer a scalable blueprint for similar community resource hubs across California’s semi-urban and rural corridors.
From an operational standpoint, this localized approach reduces the strain on centralized facilities in San Jose while creating opportunities for more culturally competent, regionally adapted service delivery. It also reinforces trust between managed care entities and communities that have historically felt marginalized or disconnected from county-level resources.
Looking ahead, the success of the Gilroy-based center could catalyze broader system-wide changes—encouraging additional investment into community health infrastructure not only within Santa Clara County but across other parts of California with comparable service gaps. In this context, the SCCRC stands as both a response to present-day healthcare access issues and a forward-looking tool to embed long-term health equity into the fabric of public service delivery.
By situating healthcare within the communities it serves—rather than requiring those communities to reach distant centers—Santa Clara Family Health Plan is helping to redefine what meaningful, accessible care looks like in the 2020s. The SCCRC in South County may well become a template for the next generation of Medi-Cal service innovation.
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