Patient-Centered Health Home

A medical or health “home” isn’t so much a place as it is a philosophy of care. As a patient-centered medical home, Clinica is committed to providing each and every person with comprehensive, coordinated, and collaborative care. We provide high quality care that respects your preferences and empowers you in your health and wellness journey.

 

Culturally Responsive Care

Equally important to us is developing a relationship with our patients and clients that encompasses the whole person. We want to understand and respect your unique needs, culture, values, identity, and preferences. At Clinica, we actively help you learn to manage and organize your care at the level you choose. Recognizing that individuals and families are core members of the care team, our health home practices ensure that you are a fully informed partner in your care plan.

Team-Based Partners

Often, a person needs more than one kind of care to achieve sustainable health and wellness. Our team-based model brings medical, dental, behavioral health experts together to support you and your family—all under one roof. Our teams consist of primary care providers, nurses, medical assistants, therapists, pharmacists, dieticians, dental hygienists, health coaches, and more.

 

You – the patient – are at the center of this care model. We are partners in your treatment, engaging you at every level, helping coordinate your health care needs and stay well.

 

Quality, Evidence-Based Care

Our community-based clinics are nationally recognized for excellence. Clinica is accredited by the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC). That means we’ve met the highest performance standards in delivering high-quality, safe care.

 

We’re also proud to be recognized by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) as a Level III Patient Centered Medical Home. That means we’ve met NCQA’s rigorous standards for quality care and commitment to improvement.

 

The care we provide is evidence-based and data-driven. We rely heavily on standards developed by nationally recognized groups to measure the quality of patient health outcomes. And we utilize data obtained from multiple trusted sources—including our own—to make health care decisions.

 

Local, Community-Based

Clinica offers evening hours and – in some cases – same-day appointments. We have community-based clinics located across our region (west Adams, Boulder, Broomfield, and Gilpin counties) to provide our neighbors with convenient access to care right in their backyard.

 

In 2022, we opened two clinics in Nederland and Black Hawk to better serve our rural mountain communities, which have historically had limited access to local health care providers and services. Learn more about our locations and hours.

 

Removing Cost as a Barrier to Health

As a nonprofit health center, we’re here to help make our entire community healthier and stronger by providing health care for people of all ages and backgrounds, whether they have insurance or not. While we accept most insurance plans and welcome Medicaid, CHP+, and Medicare, we also have discount programs for those who do not have insurance coverage.

Our Story

The start of something new 

Our roots reach back to 1962, when a passionate group of local visionaries began reimagining what mental health treatment could look like in Boulder. Instead of sending people away to isolated and overcrowded state-run psychiatric hospitals, they took inspiration from a nationwide “deinstitutionalization” movement focused on treating mental health conditions in a more compassionate, community-based setting.  

 

Mental Health Partners (MHP)—then known as the Adult Mental Health Center—first opened its doors inside the Boulder County General Hospital. The Center was open one evening per week and staffed by a single part-time staff member. Just one year later, in 1963, President John F. Kennedy signed the landmark Community Mental Health Centers Act, unlocking federal grants to invest in community mental health centers across the country and help people transition out of state hospitals.  

 

By 1971, MHP had earned federal designation as a comprehensive mental health treatment facility and launched the Boulder County’s first Rape Crisis Team. That team would later grow into Moving to End Sexual Assault (MESA), the county’s only sexual violence resource center and a critical source of advocacy, healing, and prevention. 

 

In 1977, another community-led effort began to blossom down the road in Lafayette. Clinica Family Health—then known as Clinica Campesina Rural Health Services—was founded by Alicia Sanchez, a single mother of seven and a beloved leader in the community. Commonly called La Medica or La Madre, Alicia worked alongside hundreds of Spanish-speaking migrant farmworkers who were the heart of Boulder County’s agricultural economy.  

 

Alicia knew from firsthand experience the physical toll of long hours in the fields and limited access to health care. Her own autoimmune disease made farm labor difficult and her daughter tragically died after being unable to receive lifesaving treatment. She resolved to help her community anyway she could, so every week she filled her car “Susie” with those who needed care and drove them to Denver. She translated, waited for hours, interpreted medical results, and offered food, shelter, or safety when needed. But she also knew this wasn’t enough. Individuals and families deserved a place in their own community where they could receive dignified, affordable, and culturally responsive care. 

 

With help from local leaders and healthcare providers, Alicia transformed a small wood-framed house in Lafayette into Clinica’s first clinic. The primary bedroom became two exam rooms. The living room doubled as a waiting area, check-in desk, and medical records office. The kitchen became the lab, complete with a chicken-egg incubator used to grow throat cultures. That first year, a staff of six operated on a shoestring budget, caring for approximately 500 low-income and uninsured neighbors, including migrant families. 

 

Two paths, one purpose 

As the years passed, Clinica and MHP independently continued to evolve, adapt, and expand to better meet the growing needs of the community, opening new locations in Broomfield, Longmont, North Denver, Thornton, and Westminster.  

 

Beginning in the 1990s, Clinica and MHP began to cross paths more regularly. Around this time, MHP clinicians began visiting Clinica locations to offer integrated mental health support for patients during their medical checkups. Likewise, Clinica providers visited MHP locations to support the medical needs of MHP clients with serious mental illness (SMI) – even if it meant using a massage table in place of a doctor’s examination table. This early partnership between two scrappy nonprofits devoted to helping people however they could would be the seed that led to more robust collaboration in the years to come. 

 

In 2007, Boulder County officials and Commissioners approached Clinica about merging with People’s Clinic in Boulder, a nearby community health center with a similar mission and patient population. By joining forces with People’s Clinic, Clinica was able to expand its capacity to serve the community and make medical care more accessible to individuals and families living in the City of Boulder. 

 

In 2010, Clinica earned the National Committee for Quality Assurance’s Level III Patient Centered Medical Home designation—a national recognition of its commitment to high-quality, coordinated care. Meanwhile, MHP enhanced its offering of behavioral health services by merging with Addiction Recovery Centers (ARC) in 2015, further strengthening the safety net for people in need of substance use treatment and support.  

 

The promise of integrated healthcare takes shape 

In 2015, Clinica and MHP agreed to deepen their partnership by launching the Integrated Health Home (IHH) program at Ryan Wellness Center in Boulder, with the goal of reducing barriers to health and improving outcomes. This innovative program brought primary care and behavioral health providers together under one roof and care team to better serve adults with serious mental illness, substance use disorders, and chronic medical conditions.  

 

The early success of the IHH program became a template for what integrated care could achieve. For instance, after seeing that over 75% of IHH patients and clients had high blood sugar levels, Clinica and MHP providers began working together to provide more effective diabetes interventions – including support groups, nutrition counseling, care coordination, and eye exams. When these patients and clients were reassessed after at least 6 months of treatment, over half saw significant improvement on their A1C blood sugar (glucose) levels. 

 

Likewise, during reassessment, a majority of IHH patients and clients reported having a more positive outlook on their everyday functioning, less psychological distress, improved social connections, fewer instances of visiting an emergency room for behavioral health issues, reduced use of tobacco and substances, and a positive perception of their current housing situation. Nearly 88% said they had a positive perception of the care they received through the IHH program. 

 

These and other promising outcomes made one thing clear: when medical, dental, and behavioral health care come together, people, families, and communities thrive. 

 

By 2018, MHP became a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) —the first mental health center in Colorado to achieve this gold standard in evidence-based care. That same year, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) honored Clinica as one of the nation’s Health Center Quality Leaders. 

 

A united vision for community health 

The partnership between Clinica and MHP deepened once again in 2022 when together they opened their first co-located integrated health clinic in Nederland. This partnership allowed both organizations to expand access to whole-person healthcare for people living in rural mountain communities where quality options were few and far between. 

 

Then, after decades of parallel work and partnership, Clinica and MHP merged in 2024 to become Clinica Family Health & Wellness—one unified, comprehensive health system built on more than 100 years of combined history. Together, we can more effectively improve health outcomes, break down barriers to health, and advocate for health equity in our community. 

 

What began as two grassroots dreams—one fighting for mental health access and destigmatizing treatment, the other born from a mother’s determination to help her neighbors—has now grown into a single powerful mission: to provide compassionate, integrated medical, dental, and behavioral health care to the people of Adams, Boulder, Broomfield, and Gilpin counties. 

 

Our story continues 

Today, Clinica Family Health & Wellness is a Federally Qualified Health Center and a Comprehensive Safety Net Provider with more than 900 staff members serving around 50,000 patients and clients each year from 14 community-based clinics. 

As a federally funded health center, Clinica Family Health & Wellness is responsible for providing comprehensive, affordable primary care (medical, dental, and mental health) to communities that have been historically under-resourced, regardless of ability to pay. Our focus is on preventive care for children, adults, and families, with the goal of reducing hospital use and improving community health. We are a critical part of the safety net, bridging healthcare gaps to meet community need. 

In 2025: 

• Approximately 50% of our patients and clients were living at or below the federal poverty level (which is an annual income of $15,650 for a single person or $32,150 for a family of four)

• Around 30% were children and teens (17 and younger)

• 31% were uninsured

• 55% were enrolled in Medicaid, Medicare, or other public insurance programs

• 35% were served in a language other than English

View our most recent Annual Report to learn more about who we serve.