Although Riverside-San Bernardino County Indian Health Inc. has been hosting Patient Appreciation Day events for more than a dozen years, Nov. 15 marked the first time one was held at the new Soboba Indian Health Clinic, which opened in March.

“This event is an opportunity for our patients and staff to meet each other and allow the patients to talk to the staff who work at that clinic in an informal manner outside the clinical exam room,” CEO Bill Thomsen explained. “It is an opportunity to talk about our services offered from that department, to go ‘behind the scenes’ in an area of the clinic the patient may not ordinarily visit and just take a walk through the clinic to see firsthand the building where we provide healthcare services for our patients.”

Every clinical department (medical, dental, lab, radiology, pharmacy, eye care, behavioral health, WIC and nutrition, Diabetes Program) was present. Also on hand were members of the clinic’s support services, such as the Human Resources Department, Patient Registration, Patient Services, Patient Advocate and its grant-funded programs, such as Native Challenge.

Each department had a table set up with informational handouts available to anyone who stopped by. These handouts are an introduction or an orientation to the department and the services they offer. The dental department offered a handout about proper brushing techniques and the importance of daily brushing and flossing. The medical department provided a handout on the importance of a well-child checkup for children. Each department had something specific to educate the patient to take charge of their health and learn a little bit more about self-care.

Behavioral Health Department representatives and Soboba Tribal members Kelli Hurtado and Damon Miranda offered information about nutrition, AA meetings, Talking Circles and more. Hurtado, a Community Prevention/Health Educator, said, “I talked about my Celebrating Families class and a lot of the patients did not know that we offered all these programs.” Miranda is a Peer Support Specialist who does Talking Circles in the community as well. The department offered promotional items and snacks to all visitors.

“Patient Appreciation Day is very important to let patients know that we care about them and also to update them on new details and classes the clinic offers,” Hurtado said. “I really love events like this because I’m able to connect with the community and see new faces and old faces; I love telling him about all the programs that we offer.”

Thomsen said the Soboba Tribal TANF program and the Veterans Administration were invited to host tables. “Per an agreement with the VA, we can provide healthcare services to Indian veterans in our clinic system and then bill the VA for such services so long as the veteran is registered with the VA,” Thomsen said.

The event also gave RSBCIHI representatives the opportunity to share some of the past and present developments happening within all eight sites/clinics that offer health services. Thomsen said that under the leadership of its board of directors, Riverside-San Bernardino County Indian Health Inc. began a large-scale capital projects plan in 2013 to replace its aging clinic buildings. It began with the purchase of a building in the city of Grand Terrace to relocate the San Manuel Clinic from a leased building in Highland.

“After about 18 months of construction, the new San Manuel Indian Health Clinic opened its doors to our Indian population,” he said. “Once this project was completed, our board of directors continued to move forward in purchasing a building in Barstow to replace an undersized leased office so more clinical services could be available to the Indian population in the Barstow and surrounding area. We then moved along to the Torres-Martinez clinic and replaced a triple-wide trailer with a brand new 11,605 sq.ft. clinic building. Next up was a new 11,605 sq.ft. Pechanga clinic to replace a small clinic which was housed jointly to the Pechanga Tribal Silver Feathers center. We then shifted gears to construct a first time ever clinic (3,500 sq.ft.) on the Santa Rosa reservation while also constructing a new clinic for the first time on the Cahuilla reservation.”

He said those two clinics replaced a leased office suite in the town of Anza which had been used as the local clinic in the mountains for more than 20 years. The next move was to Soboba. The current 38,000 sq.ft. clinic is double the size of the old clinic which was located about a half mile away in San Jacinto.

“We are now focusing on the Morongo Indian Health Clinic and working through the schematic stage of development and will begin construction on that new clinic later in 2024,” Thomsen said. “Except for the San Manuel and Barstow clinics, all new clinics are on our Indian reservations which we serve. The Tribes have been very generous partners in land allocation for these new clinics. Without their support and that of our board of directors, these capital projects may not have been possible or at least more difficult in land allocation off reservation.”

An important need is being met through RSBCIHI’s Diabetes Program, a federal grant-funded program through the Special Diabetes Program for Indians (SPDI) to increase the education, awareness and prevention of diabetes in Indian Country. This program hosts numerous community events to inspire patients to exercise, learn nutritional habits toward controlling diabetes and getting the whole family involved in healthcare.

Thomsen said, “For many years, RSBCIHI has organized a Native Youth Olympics game for our kids ages 4-18 to get them involved in different types of activities such as a 50-yard run, a basketball shootout, a softball toss, soccer shootout, and other events to educate everyone on the importance of some sort of activity. The COVID-19 pandemic put a hold on this event for a few years, but in 2024, our Diabetes Program will host this event again so we can get back on track with educating our youth on the importance of exercise to their health.”

RSBCIHI has several other grants with Riverside and San Bernardino counties that address mental health prevention education services. There are also several federal grants through its Native Challenge program to provide education to young parents on parenting skills and a Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons crisis prevention program.

“Recently, RSBCIHI was awarded a five-year federal grant to partner with local 988 crisis centers to ensure there is a comprehensive and coordinated response to Tribal individuals at imminent risk for suicide,” Thomsen said. “We also have a U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office for Victims of Crime program to support existing services in a comprehensive and culturally salient manner to those individuals who identify as a victim of crime. There are so many things RSBCIHI does for our communities outside of medical and dental for the benefits of the Indian population we serve.”

Thomsen has worked with RSBCIHI since February 1996, beginning his career as a temporary Property & Supply Clerk. He then worked his way into the Quality Management Coordinator position and was COO for 12 years before assuming his position as CEO in April 2021.

“As CEO of RSBCIHI, it provides me with an opportunity to lead a team of Indian and non-Indian employees who all want to work toward achieving our mission statement each day. My position allows me to meet patients and listen to their concerns and improve our delivery system of care,” Thomsen said. “Our board of directors, who are elected from their respective Tribes, accept an obligation to provide the highest quality and most comprehensive healthcare services we can through our funding from Indian Health Services. There are challenges every day in meeting the needs of communities, but it is a challenge we accept every day when we come to work.”

The RSBCIHI Board of Directors is composed of designated tribal members from the nine consortium tribes. Each Tribal board member is selected by their general membership to serve a two-year term or as designated by the individual Tribe. Each Tribe has two primary and two alternate delegates. Soboba’s delegates are Camille Diaz and Julie Arrietta-Parcero; alternate delegates are Lisa Ortega and Monica Herrera.

“I feel these events are good for the patients because they are able to ask questions at each department,” Arrietta-Parcero said. “We also appreciate the employees that work for us.”

The board has a great responsibility to serve Riverside-San Bernardino County Indian Health Inc. as well as representing their Tribal healthcare interests for the betterment of the community. Their combined leadership brings expertise to many health-related topics affecting RSBCIHI. The board and its sub-committees meet regularly and are responsible for the oversight of the strategic and financial health of the organization.

For more information, www.rsbcihi.org.

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Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians | Contributed

After much planning and designing, the new Soboba Indian Health Clinic opened its doors at the Soboba Indian Reservation with an official ribbon cutting ceremony on March 3.

Riverside-San Bernardino County Indian Health Inc. Chief Executive Officer Bill Thomsen said the new clinic, which replaces the previous one located on Donna Way in San Jacinto, sits on just over eight acres. “We have 13 exam rooms, 10 dental operatories, about 70 staff members from physicians, nurses, dentists, several registered dental assistants, a hygienist, nutritionist, optometrist, optician, two lab technicians, two X-ray staff, a facilities coordinator who is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the clinic, and numerous front office staff.

“We realized we needed a much larger clinic in 2015,” Thomsen said. “Our patient numbers were increasing; we added additional staff and the existing clinic became too small overnight. Through the support of our Board of Directors, we created a capital projects program which mapped our plan to construct new San Manuel, Soboba, Morongo, Torres Martinez, Pechanga, Santa Rosa and Cahuilla Indian Health clinics. Each of these clinics are on reservation land (except for the San Manuel clinic) and a replacement for an aged clinic building. The Santa Rosa and Cahuilla clinics replaced a leased office which was located in the town of Anza. These two clinics are the first for these tribes on their reservations. All these new clinics have been completed and are open for services. Our remaining capital project is the Morongo clinic, and we are in the early stages of the schematic design planning.”

Soboba Tribal Council Chairman Isaiah Vivanco said, “We appreciate the Riverside-San Bernardino Indian health consortium’s willingness to bring this new facility to our reservation. It’s been almost 10 years in the making and we are truly excited to finally open its doors.”

Vivanco said the Soboba clinic originated on the reservation but in the 1980s, the facility was too small to accommodate Tribal members’ needs and was moved to a location in San Jacinto. In the late 1990s, there was another move to an even bigger facility that was about 14,000 square feet.

“Now, here we are, around 40 years later, coming back home to the Soboba reservation in a new state-of-the-art 40,000-sq. ft. health clinic,” he said. “It’s awesome to see all the new amenities here for our members and those of surrounding reservations.”

Some of the new services and improved past services include medical, dental, eye care, behavioral health, pharmacy, lab, WIC, nutrition, x-ray, mammography, ultrasound and a fitness center, to name a few.

“Also located on the same property is our new Commodities Food Distribution warehouse,” Thomsen said. “This is a USDA-funded program which we have had for over 40 years. Previously we leased a warehouse in Beaumont.”

Currently, the Soboba clinic is the newest, with the Cahuilla clinic having opened in Nov. 2022. It is the largest as the Torres Martinez, Pechanga and Cahuilla Clinic are each about 11,605 square feet. The Santa Rosa clinic is about 3,500 square feet. The new Morongo clinic’s size has not been determined but will only be larger than Soboba’s clinic because it will include a Board of Directors conference room and some administrative offices at that location.

Soboba Delegate Julie Arrietta-Parcero has been representing the Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians on the RSBCIHI board since 2013. She enjoys helping to write policies, attend conferences and assist with hosting conferences. She welcomes the many opportunities she is given to communicate with other reservations regarding keeping all the clinics up to date and ensuring everything is running as smoothly as possible.

“I feel seeing this clinic completed has been a big accomplishment for the employees and the patients and I’m glad to see it back on the reservation,” Arrietta-Parcero said. “I was so proud to be a part of it from start to finish.”

Camille Diaz, also a Soboba Delegate, began serving on the board two and one-half years ago because she felt it was important to give back to her Tribe. “Healthcare has always been a priority to me and quality care for the wellbeing of our Tribal members is crucial,” she said. “It’s an honor to be part of ensuring that Tribal members get the care that they need.”

Diaz has been the school nurse at Noli Indian School on the Soboba Reservation for nearly seven years. She said the new Soboba Indian Health Clinic will better support the community due to its convenient location and increased staffing levels. “Most of all, I am impressed by all of the hard work and dedication from staff and board members to make this a reality,” Diaz said.

Thomsen, who has been with RSBCIHI since February of 1996, said the Soboba clinic has consistently been RSBCIHI’s busiest clinic for all clinical services, adding, “We expect this new clinic to accommodate more patients based on the additional medical examination rooms, dental operatories and behavioral health office space.”

In 2022, there were 4,416 patients seen with a total of 17,876 visits across all clinical departments at the Soboba site.

Healthcare services are available to any eligible federally recognized Native American or Alaskan Native who resides within the two-county service area of RSBCIHI. The Soboba Indian Health Clinic, at 23119 Soboba Road, is open 8 a.m.-5 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, 8 a.m.-7 p.m. on Wednesday, and 8 a.m.-2 p.m. on Friday.

For more information, 951-654-0803, 951-487-9627, 800-851-5816 or www.rsbcihi.org.

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