M.J. Murdock Trust gives $500,000 boost to La Pine Community Health Center’s Wellness Center project
(Update: Adding video)
La PINE, Ore. (KTVZ) – La Pine Community Health Center has received $500,000 from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust toward construction of its new three-story, 27,000-square-foot Wellness Center – one of 30 grants to nonprofits serving the Oregon community that totaled more than $7.5 million.
The $500,000 amount put LCHC among the top five Oregon grantees, according to the latest grant report from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, which awarded a total of $21.9 million to 94 nonprofits in the Pacific Northwest.
Added to a previously announced $1.6 million donation from billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott’s Yield Giving (along with other pledges and individual contributions), La Pine Community Health Center’s capital campaign – launched in August 2023 -- has exceeded 40 percent of its $5 million goal.*
“We are so honored at this gift from the Murdock Charitable Trust,” said CEO Erin Trapp, “following the remarkable support shown by MacKenzie Scott. And we hope each person in the region served by LCHC (which extends from southern Deschutes County down to parts of Lake and Klamath counties – a total of 25-30,000 people) will join in this effort. La Pine Community Health Center’s commitment to ensure continued access to health care for all, regardless of income, is the driving force behind the Wellness Center project.”
The Wellness Center, adjacent to LCHC’s existing building on Huntington Road, will provide additional space for dental and diagnostic imaging services (such as CT scans, mammograms, and ultrasound); increase capacity for behavioral and mental health services; and expand primary care services by 45 percent.
The project will also include day care for employees’ young children, remodeled offices to accommodate the growth of the administrative support team, and a public-use conference room.
“Over 6,000 patients a year receive primary care at LCHC and through its various outreach programs,” said Trapp. “The Wellness Center will be so impactful for the community, which needs and deserves the expanded services it will bring.”
Keeping pace with fundraising efforts to bring the ambitious project to fruition is construction for the new facility, said LCHC’s Marketing & Communications Manager Courtney Ignazzitto.
“Thanks to the willingness of the crews to work overtime both before and after the recent storms that blanketed Central Oregon, the snow didn’t seem to slow progress much," she said. "We’re still on target to complete the Wellness Center in time for an early 2025 opening.”
*The total cost of LCHC’s Wellness Center project is estimated at $16 million — with some $6 million already received from the federal government and the state: $3 million from a Congressionally Directed Spending Appropriation, and $3 million in state funding secured during the 2023 legislative session.
