The nonprofit serves more than 7,000 patients in the Coachella Valley, with rising visit counts at its downtown clinic and rescue mission locations and pediatric specialists who can spare families a trip to Loma Linda.
The downtown clinic that opened to bring Loma Linda children’s care to the Coachella Valley has become a broader source of medical care for entire families, with patient visits climbing as its operator extends its reach into the city’s healthcare safety net.
SAC Health, a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), recorded about 15,000 visits at its main Indio clinic in fiscal 2025-26, up from more than 10,000 the previous year, Chief Executive Officer Dr. Jason Lohr told the Indio City Council during a special presentation on Nov. 4. Visits at its Coachella Valley Rescue Mission operation rose from more than 2,600 to nearly 5,000 over the same period.
Together, those operations handled roughly 20,000 visits in the most recently completed fiscal year. Lohr said SAC serves more than 7,000 individual patients in the Coachella Valley, a population with access to family medicine, dentistry, behavioral health and pediatric specialty care.
The figures reflect the organization’s growing local workload and the role of a clinic many residents may still associate primarily with Loma Linda University Children’s Health. Its services now extend from children with complex medical needs to their parents and people receiving care through the rescue mission.
SAC Health’s Indio Clinic Grows Beyond Children’s Care
The clinic at 82934 Civic Center Drive occupies the Jill and Barry Golden Pavilion, which opened in March 2018 with support from local donors. The Goldens provided the lead gift for the facility, helping establish a local base for Loma Linda’s pediatric services.
By its first anniversary, the nearly 13,000-square-foot clinic had 20 examination rooms, three dental chairs and an X-ray room. SAC was already working with Loma Linda to broaden access to care.
SAC assumed daily operations in April 2022, while Loma Linda Children’s Health physicians continued treating patients through the affiliation.
Lohr said the decision to serve adults grew out of what staff saw when parents brought their children for appointments.
“They’re coming and bringing their kids, and they also want care and need care,” he told the council.
The clinic’s current services include family medicine, adult and pediatric dentistry, behavioral health and addiction recovery, along with general pediatrics and several pediatric subspecialties. Lohr said the main clinic had already recorded close to 5,000 visits in the current fiscal year.
Councilmember Oscar Ortiz, who toured the facility, described rooms that accommodate families, a children’s library and play areas intended to make appointments easier on parents and children. He also praised the staff’s efforts to arrange care for people with limited financial resources.
Pediatric Specialists Bring Treatment Closer to Home
The Indio clinic offers pediatric endocrinology, neurology and pulmonology, Lohr said, providing local access to specialists whose availability can determine whether a family must travel out of the valley for treatment.
He pointed to pediatric neurology as a particularly scarce service. Some patients travel from Mammoth to San Bernardino for that care, he said, illustrating the distance families may face when a specialist is unavailable near home.
For patients relying on Medi-Cal, the expense of gasoline compounds the burden of a lengthy trip, Lohr said.
“To have pediatric neurology available right here for the Coachella Valley, so that patients don’t have to drive to Loma Linda, is huge for our community,” he said.
SAC’s relationship with Loma Linda University Health connects local patients to a broader network. Lohr said the organization offers more than 45 specialties across its system and trains approximately 500 medical residents in its clinics. The specialty network includes medical and surgical services, behavioral health and dentistry.
The Indio locations provide a local entry point into that network, with referrals giving patients access to additional specialties elsewhere in the system.
Rescue Mission Visits Nearly Double
SAC’s work with the Coachella Valley Rescue Mission represents another substantial part of its Indio operation. Lohr said the organization added a mission location around 2020, during the pandemic.
The Coachella Valley Rescue Mission campus in Indio. SAC Health provides medical and behavioral health services through its partnership with the mission, reporting nearly 5,000 visits in fiscal 2025-26.
SAC now lists a medical clinic at 84110 Manila Avenue, Suite B, offering family medicine and primary care, and a behavioral health location at 47470 Van Buren Street.
Visits associated with the mission increased to nearly 5,000 in fiscal 2025-26, approaching twice the previous year’s volume. The operation had recorded approximately 1,500 additional visits in the current fiscal year, Lohr said.
Those services place primary and behavioral healthcare within the mission’s network of assistance for people experiencing homelessness and other hardships. Lohr said local patients also have access to SAC’s community resource center and mobile medical and dental units, which operate throughout the region.
How SAC Health Funds Its Safety-Net Services
SAC is a Christian nonprofit whose roots extend to a free clinic established in San Bernardino in 1968, Lohr said. It operates as a federally qualified health center, with its own governing board and a responsibility to serve patients who cannot afford care.
Lohr explained that the health center’s reimbursement arrangements for patients covered by government insurance help support its ability to treat uninsured and underinsured residents. SAC advertises a sliding fee scale for eligible patients at its Indio locations.
Federal health center requirements include adjusting fees by income and family size, serving patients regardless of ability to pay, and maintaining a governing board with a patient majority.
The local increase in visits comes during a period of restructuring for the larger organization. Fierce Healthcare reported in October that SAC conducted two rounds of nonclinical layoffs after closing two clinics. The publication reported SAC’s statement that patient care and services were continuing without interruption.
In Indio, SAC’s physician recruitment page lists openings in family medicine and internal medicine. Both advertise annual pay of $310,000 and a loan repayment opportunity, with physicians employed by Loma Linda Faculty Medical Group.
