The opinions expressed in this piece do not necessarily reflect the views of The Mendocino Voice. We value the diverse opinions of our readers and we welcome robust, wide-ranging thoughts and ideas on subjects relevant to Mendocino County. Opinion pieces can be sent to info@mendovoice.com.
My wife and I moved to the Mendocino Coast in 1999 when I was hired as the physician director of the OB/GYN program at Mendocino Coast District Hospital. I was a brand new doctor, fresh out of medical residency.
For some people, Fort Bragg feels too quiet, too rural, and too geographically remote. For me and my wife (an adjunct professor), it is perfect. This area is beautiful and the community is close-knit. Since we also have a medically underserved population, I spent my career doing something meaningful by practicing medicine here.
Salvaging obstetric care on the coast
Six years after I was hired, the hospital decided its obstetrics service was too expensive, so they closed the clinic; however, they would still allow women to give birth there through private providers. That’s when Mendocino Coast Clinics (MCC) jumped in, as they so often do, to find a way to salvage obstetrical care here on the coast. They hired me as an OB/GYN, a role I continued until I retired in 2022.
Starting in the mid-2000s, the hospital and MCC partnered to cover the costs that come with providing labor and delivery services. This worked well for quite a while, and we experienced growth—both in terms of the number of providers offering OB/GYN care and the number of patients we saw. And then, as often happens, things continued to change.
As the demographics of the area have shifted, the number of babies delivered in Mendocino County decreased in line with national birth rate trends. At the same time, some women opted for home births and others chose to drive over the hill to Ukiah for their OB/GYN care. Through it all, MCC’s executive directors—first Paula Cohen and then Lucresha Renteria—have remained dedicated to ensuring pregnant patients have access to obstetric care here on the coast.
Working to fill the gaps in healthcare
In early 2022, in response to the drop in the number of local births and the retirement of local obstetrical providers and nurses, the hospital determined it was no longer feasible to operate its Labor and Delivery department. This was a significant change from 2005, when providers could still deliver babies at the hospital. This recent closure meant there would be no more births on the coast except in emergencies.Â
Those of us at MCC asked the kinds of questions community health centers do when they identify gaps in healthcare: What kind of planning could be done to keep women and babies safe? How could we assure that local obstetric care was available to women who lacked the means to travel to Ukiah for visits? MCC came up with a plan to offer obstetric care for pregnant women here in Fort Bragg up to 28 weeks’ gestation, then transfer their care elsewhere for the duration of their pregnancy, most frequently to MCHC Health Centers in Ukiah.
I know clinics like ours will continue exploring every avenue for providing care when other options become unavailable, whether that’s making more use of technology or looking into options like a birth center that offers obstetric and delivery care for low-risk births. I can’t predict what the future holds, but I know MCC will continue pursuing the best and most sustainable options for our area.
As we consider what comes next in healthcare, it’s important to look at who our residents are and what care they require. Regardless of someone’s financial means or health insurance status, MCC will continue to provide holistic care from primary care to OB/GYN, pediatrics, dental care, behavioral health and even street medicine for the unhoused. Right now, our coastal community includes many people with little or no insurance, from our older residents who depend on public insurance (Medicare) or Medi-Cal to an increasing number of young people in the service industry, many of whom do not have any health insurance. I think of MCC as the guardian angels of the medically underserved here.
An off-the-beaten-path community that’s a perfect fit for the right medical providers
As a physician, I love that our community isn’t the kind of place where you see a patient once, send them away, and never see them again. Much of the trend in America has been toward the corporatization of medicine, with a focus on business instead of service. MCC has been and continues to fight the battle to keep priorities focused on the needs of local patients.
I’ve personally delivered more than 1,000 babies on the coast (I lost track of the exact count at some point). It has meant a lot to me to care for a mother and later become the provider for her child. My wife and I used to joke that we had to allow an extra hour whenever we went out because I would run into patients and their kids everywhere—not just the clinic or the hospital, but also the grocery store. My patients have invited me to birthday parties, weddings, and anniversaries. As much as the healthcare landscape has changed and will continue to, what won’t change is the meaningful, generations-long relationships formed by the people who choose to live here.
Mendocino County is the best place I’ve ever lived, and MCC is the best place I’ve ever worked. I am extremely grateful to MCC for providing me the opportunity to live and work here, and I’m grateful for their dedication to providing essential medical services for the underserved and for those at greatest risk.Â
Dr. Brent Wright is a retired physician who worked at Mendocino Coast Clinics from 2005 until his retirement in 2022.
Dr. Wright helped delivered my grandson, Nico. My daughter in law hoped for a home birth, but in the end needed to go to the hospital where Dr. Wright made the experience as easy and comforting as could be, with his gentle kindness. We were and are grateful.