Desert Senita Community Health Center, located in a rural and geographically isolated part of Ajo, Arizona, has focused on providing high quality personal care since its founding. The center grew out of an outpatient clinic that was part of a local hospital. From 1985 to 1987, the mining company Phelps Dodge ran the program as an outpatient clinic.The health center is the sole provider of medical services for the entire service area
The health clinic continued to operate through the closing of the mine in 1986, and attendant closure of the hospital, and ultimately became an independent non-profit clinic in 1997. The original mission statement of the center reflected the commitment to the community:
“Exceptional personal concern is our hallmark. We strive to be the focal point for health care in our diverse, multi-cultural communities. Through the careful use of available resources, we provide a full continuum of affordable, quality primary health care services to all in western Pima County, regardless of ability to pay.”
The health center is the sole provider of medical services for the entire service area and worked hard to adjust to the changes resulting from the loss of Phelps Dodge as a benefactor and the shift from a fully covered, company-insured patient base to a population including uninsured, Medicaid, Medicare and commercial patients with limited and marginal reimbursement.
While the size of the population has remained relatively stable since the end of mining operations, the number of uninsured and people who qualify The health center is the sole provider of medical services for the entire service area for Medicaid has continued to grow each year. The center’s status as a Federally Qualified Health Center has enabled it to continue to serve the community, and benefit from the best practices and collaborative opportunities familiar to the FQHC community.
The center now offers behavioral health and dental services in addition to medical care, making available for the first time a full range of essential services to the residents of Western Pima County.
