News & Updates

Contra Costa Health (CCH) has secured about $98 million in state funding to build three new facilities to better serve county residents in need of mental health and recovery services.

The funding comes from California’s Behavioral Health Continuum Infrastructure Program (BHCIP), a multi-year state initiative to improve behavioral healthcare infrastructure paid through Proposition 1.

Gov. Gavin Newsom and the state Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) announced the awards this week.

“We are grateful to Gov. Newsom and DHCS for recognizing the need to invest in this kind of infrastructure in Contra Costa County,” said Candace Andersen, chair of the county Board of Supervisors. “We desperately need more beds for residential care and treatment.”

Projects selected for funding include:

• Delta Recovery Center (Oakley)
  A campus to include a 16 bed-adult residential treatment center and a 16-bed mental health rehabilitation center.
  
  
• Los Medanos Recovery Center (Pittsburg)
  A hub including a sobering center, crisis triage center, withdrawal management program and outpatient behavioral healthcare services.
  
  
• Sherman Recovery Center (Pleasant Hill)
  A 16-bed adult residential treatment and transitional residential facility designed to support adults with behavioral health needs in a structured setting.

“These investments help us to meet people where they are, offering meaningful treatment and support close to home,” Contra Costa Supervisor Ken Carlson said. “They are a vital part of our ongoing efforts to reduce emergency room visits, reduce contact with the criminal justice system, and support recovery in our community.”

The Board of Supervisors yesterday appointed Supervisors Carlson and Andersen as its representatives on the recently established Behavioral Health Commission, which advises the full board on matters relating to mental health, substance use disorder and behavioral health in the county.

Contra Costa County owns the properties on which all three facilities will be built. More details about the projects and their timelines will be released in early summer.

“We have a critical need for these programs to better serve Contra Costa residents throughout the County and close to their home communities. The addition of these facilities will expand access to essential care to better support people who are in need of and would benefit from the mental health treatment services to be provided,” said Dr. Suzanne Tavano, Director of Behavioral Health Services for CCH. “This investment will make our county healthier, safer and more able to provide appropriate care for all our residents.”

Statewide, Proposition 1 funding is expected to create over 5,000 residential treatment beds and expand outpatient capacity by 21,800, with a focus on helping individuals who are homeless or at risk of institutionalization.

The new West County Reentry, Treatment and Housing Facility (WRTH), an addition to the West County Detention Facility in Richmond, will open in late summer or fall to help us better serve community members who are incarcerated.

This project represents a major effort by the county to improve conditions for incarcerated individuals who require medical and behavioral healthcare, and to provide a more responsive and appropriate care environment within our detention system.

WRTH does not expand capacity but allows the Sheriff’s Office to decompress Martinez Detention Facility and re-allocate within the system 272 beds, including 96 designated for persons behavioral health treatment and support.

I’m glad to report that the WRTH will include a new health clinic that will offer care, such as optometry, dental care, x-ray and dialysis, as well as designated space for reentry, family reunification and workforce readiness programs.

Recruitment is now underway for more than 70 medical and behavioral health staff members who will provide care inside WRTH and play a critical role in preparing patients for reentry.

As part of this work, CCH has implemented processes through Cal-AIM’s Justice Involved Initiative to screen and enroll every eligible, incarcerated individual into Medi-Cal prior to their release, to ensure a smooth transition to community-based care.

We recognize that not all community members will view improvements made to a detention facility the same way. But our role as a health department is to ensure that patients who are incarcerated receive care that is appropriate and excellent, regardless of the setting. WRTH offers a space where that care can be provided safely, humanely and effectively.

I am grateful to all who have worked to bring us so far, including Deputy Director Lavonna Martin, Detention Health Medical Director Dr. Sonia Sutherland, Nurse Program Manager Sujeeta Sukhu, Mental Health Program Chief Manju Mathews-Campbell, and project manager Jena Williams, among many others.

Thank you all,

Ori Tzvieli, MD MS

Chief Executive Officer and Health Director (Interim)

Health Officer, Contra Costa County

After achieving a top grade as one the nation’s highest quality hospitals last fall, Contra Costa Regional Medical Center (CCRMC), part of Contra Costa Health, has maintained its “A” in the Spring 2025 safety report card from the Leapfrog Group [hospitalsafetygrade.org](External link).

The “A” grade places CCRMC in the top 32% of the 3,000 hospitals surveyed nationwide. Leapfrog is an independent nonprofit healthcare watchdog committed to driving quality, safety and transparency in the U.S. health system.

“This A grade comes as we prepare to celebrate our amazing nursing staff during National Nurses Week (May 6-12) and share our gratitude for their invaluable contributions to our hospital and health centers,” said Supervisor Candace Andersen, chair of the Board of Supervisors. “It takes a strong team to provide an outstanding health system. I’m proud of our entire CCRMC team and delighted by this recognition of their commitment to safe and high-quality care.”

Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade report is updated twice a year – in the spring and fall. CCRMC earned an “A” in the previous report in the fall of 2024. Grades are assigned to general hospitals across the country based on up to 30 national performance measures reflecting errors, accidents, injuries and infections, as well as the systems hospitals have in place to prevent them. The grading system is peer-reviewed, transparent and available free to the public.

“This rating is a testament to the hard work of our staff and their dedication to excellent patient care,” said Dr. Ori Tzvieli, interim chief executive officer of Contra Costa Health. “Our patients deserve to be able to trust the care they receive. Independent reviews from organizations like Leapfrog help us build that trust."

CCRMC is a full-service, 167-bed designated public hospital that primarily serves residents with Medi-Cal. It has a 24-hour emergency department, accredited cancer care program and a nationally recognized family medicine residency program.

Dear colleagues,

On Monday, interim CCH Chief Financial Officer Brian Buchanan and I presented Contra Costa Health’s proposed 2025-26 budget to the Board of Supervisors. I want to take a moment to speak directly to you about where we stand.

CCH has grown rapidly over the past decade, and our community relies on us more than ever. Contra Costa Health Plan membership has more than doubled since 2020, and in the past year served more than 323,000 unique Medi-Cal members, which is an all-time high. CCH services touch 1 out of 3 county residents, and we have been adding new programs like our youth stabilization unit at CCRMC that help us address critical needs in the community.

At the same time, we face real uncertainty about the future. Potential federal Medicaid cuts could have a major impact on our funding and the services we provide, and tens of thousands of county residents could lose their healthcare coverage. The details are not yet clear, and it may be months before we have a full picture.

The Board will consider adoption of the proposed 2025-26 budget at a hearing in May, but we will likely return to provide updates throughout the upcoming fiscal year as we gain more clarity about the federal budget.

What is clear is that our mission has never been more important. Whether or not the patient can pay, or whether or not we are reimbursed for services, it is our legal and moral obligation to offer the best possible care to anyone who needs it. We are the safety net for Contra Costa County. That will not change, no matter what happens in Washington.

We will continue to focus on what we can control: improving and ensuring access to care, strengthening prevention efforts, and making health more attainable for every person in our community. We have built a strong, resilient foundation. Together, we will navigate whatever lies ahead .

Thank you for all you do. Your work matters, today and every day. I will continue to share updates whenever there are developments.

Sincerely,
Ori

Colleagues:

It is my pleasure to announce that Rachael Birch has joined the senior leadership team at Contra Costa Health as a deputy director.

Rachael has spent nearly 18 years in Public Health, including the past three as chief operating officer. Her experience with budget management and cross-division collaboration will be key to continuing our work, aligning services and improving continuity of care across CCH.

She joins Lavonna Martin and Matt Kaufmann as my deputies, filling the vacancy created when Erika Jenssen retired last month.

Rachael’s past successes include serving as project director for our Health Care for the Homeless (HCH) program and administrator for the Whole Person Care program. She has played important roles in the expansion of HCH and our school-based health centers, opioid response and COVID emergency response.

More recently, she served on the transformation team that has helped to advise our current improvement work. With her promotion, I would like to share an updated CCH organizational chart(External link) that shows how we are developing the department’s structure.

The deputies manage centralized administrative and business support functions shared by all of CCH, ensuring that all operational areas can take advantage of the size and depth of CCH when it comes to personnel, IT, capital planning, project management, compliance and quality.

We have several open leadership positions on our chart, and we are actively working to fill them. I will keep you informed as we progress.

Thank you all,

Ori Tzvieli, MD MS
Chief Executive Officer and Health Director (Interim)
Health Officer, Contra Costa County