Plans for new Cloverdale medical center approved

photo credit: Courtesy the City of Cloverdale

Northern Sonoma County residents will have access to a new healthcare facility in the coming years. A three to one city council vote approved environmental and design documents for Alexander Valley Healthcare’s proposed Alexander Valley Wellness Center. City councilmember Cruz recused herself from the vote.

The Wellness Center will be built on a 2.8 acre site at the corner of Citrus Fair Drive and Cloverdale Boulevard South. The three-story facility will provide a variety of services. The Alexander Valley Healthcare CEO described some of the services to the council.

"Family medicine, behavioral health, dental services," noted Howell, "lab services, community services, physical therapy, teaching kitchen, nutrition services, education presentations."

Deborah Howell, Chief Executive of Alexander Valley Healthcare said some of the services, like physical therapy and laboratory services will also be available to anyone, not just members of the Alexander Valley Healthcare system.

"We will have other entities renting or partnering with us to provide services that are available not only to our patients," said Howell "but to the community as a whole."

Helping with public accessibility is the site’s proximity to downtown Cloverdale. Matt Stromberg from Stromberg Architecture, the project’s design firm, said that’s part of the reasoning behind the project location and design.

"The emphasis is to build up the neighborhood," Stromberg told the council, "to make the neighborhood more walkable, user friendly, and to really activate the area close to downtown."

While there was some concern expressed over an increase in vehicle traffic near the Citrus Fairgrounds, directly across the street, it did not stop the city council from approving the project. Construction is expected to start in the near future.