Palm Springs homeless center gets $7.5 million boost

Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP) has pledged millions of dollars toward a new homeless center in Riverside County.

The Rancho Cucamonga-based health plan’s donation of $7.5 million for the completion of the Palm Springs Navigation Center was approved by the Riverside County Board of Supervisors during its Jan. 23 meeting by a unanimous vote. The donation will cover a funding gap associated with the project, slated to open this summer at 3589 McCarthy Road.

“Funding will help develop and rehabilitate the property and reconfigure the layout of existing buildings to create a suitable space that will provide transitional housing to 120 individuals at one given time,” said Dr. Takashi Wada, IEHP’s chief medical officer. “Once opened, the center will provide round-the-clock services to homeless individuals and those at risk of homelessness or experiencing housing insecurity.”

IEHP’s involvement in the center is through a partnership with Riverside County’s Housing and Workforce Solutions, which focuses on creating innovative ways to elevate social and economic opportunity in Riverside County, and the Department of Health Care Services’ Housing and Homelessness Incentive Program (HHIP). The program allows health plans across the state to earn incentive funds toward addressing homelessness and housing insecurity and other social determinants of health. According to Wada, the goals of HHIP align with IEHP’s mission, vision and values.

“The program ensures health plans like IEHP have the necessary capacity and partnerships to connect members to needed housing services,” he said. “We want to provide resources and housing stability because it is extraordinarily difficult to improve an individual’s health when they don’t have a safe and consistent place to call home.”

Once complete, the Palm Springs Navigation Center will provide services including hygiene, health and wellness, education and employment, and intensive care management. IEHP will have the opportunity to provide additional materials in support of these efforts.

IEHP and Riverside County officials have high hopes for the space.

“I am really pleased this funding will help this campus reach the construction finish line and soon begin providing holistic help for our unhoused residents,” said Riverside County Fourth District Supervisor V. Manuel Perez. “This is an effort that has been led out of my office, alongside the Riverside County Housing and Workforce Solutions Department and in partnership with the city of Palm Springs to bring solutions to address homelessness.

“Thank you, IEHP, for providing the last dollars needed to get more homeless residents help,” he said.

With a mission to heal and inspire the human spirit, Inland Empire Health Plan (IEHP) is one of the top 10 largest Medicaid health plans, the largest not-for-profit Medicare-Medicaid public health plan in the country, and for the third year in a row, certified as A Great Place To Work®. In its 27th year, IEHP supports more than 1.5 million Riverside and San Bernardino County residents enrolled in Medicaid or IEHP DualChoice (those with both Medi-Cal and Medicare). Today, IEHP has a growing network of nearly 6,800 providers and more than 3,000 team members who are fully committed to the vision: We will not rest until our communities enjoy optimal care and vibrant health. To learn more, go to iehp.org.