Healthcare District Board Awards $1 Million Grant Supporting DAP Health's Acquisition of Borrego Health

On Tuesday, June 27, the Desert Healthcare District and Foundation Board approved its largest grant of the 2022-23 fiscal year, which will help ensure that access to healthcare continues for thousands of patients.

The $1,025,778 grant was awarded to DAP Health, as it finalizes the acquisition of Borrego Health. The funds will fill the expected gaps in operating revenue during the first year that DAP Health manages former Borrego Health clinics.

In addition to inheriting Borrego's patients, the acquisition includes the retention and transfer of about 600 Borrego staff and clinicians to DAP Health. The transition officially begins July 1 and is expected to take about six months to achieve necessary staffing levels. DAP Health has about 300 employees.

"The Board's decision to support DAP's expansion is a significantly beneficial move for the 39,000 Coachella Valley residents who currently use Borrego Health services," said Conrado Bárzaga, Desert Healthcare District and Foundation CEO. "It allows them to access care with many of the physicians they already have relationships with and the medical staff they depend upon."

The grant closely aligns with Desert Healthcare District and Foundation's new strategic plan. Goal #2 of the plan is to proactively expand community access to primary and specialty care services. The goal prioritizes increasing the quantity of health clinics and programs in the Coachella Valley.

Established in 1984 as Desert AIDS Project in Palm Springs, DAP Health took the lead in responding to HIV/AIDS in the valley. In 2012, it earned the status of a Federally Qualified Health Center to serve residents living at or 200 percent below the federal poverty line.

Borrego Health filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September, following recent years of legal troubles that included an FBI raid resulting from a criminal investigation into Medicare fraud. Amidst its challenges, the Borrego Health Board of Trustees in February selected DAP Health to purchase its health clinics in Riverside and San Diego counties. The sale was approved by bankruptcy court in March.

“It’s great that DAP is stepping up," said Desert Healthcare District and Foundation Board Director Les Zendle, MD. "It would be a tremendous hardship to the Coachella Valley if the patients that went to Borrego were left out in the storm. We have a role as the Desert Healthcare District to help.”