"We feel like we work with them as far as taking care of their patients; we take care of a lot of the patients they see there," said Dr. Frieda Hulka, President of Western Surgical Group. "The service they provide to the community is really just overwhelming as far as taking care of patients who aren't able to be covered by standard insurance and don't have anywhere else to go. So we felt like it was the most appropriate place to go with our money."

Right now Community Health Alliance (CHA) is in the middle of a capital campaign to expand their services.

"It's a million-dollar campaign to expand the existing Sparks clinic," said Emelie Williams, Executive Director of the CHA Foundation. "We'll have two more providers, six exam rooms, and a food pantry. We have one of those at our other clinics and it has certainly been embraced."

CHA serves 30,000 patients at seven Northern Nevada Locations, and that number continues to grow.

"It's growing through this pandemic and because people are newly unemployed or on furlough," Williams said. "And we purposely go into neighborhoods where there is need, so it's convenient. We don't want people taking three buses to get to their doctor, or they're just going to skip a really vital visit."

Routine screenings are down amid the pandemic, and that's already having negative consequences, so access to health care is even more important these days.

"We're really passionate about the community, and I think that's part of why we wanted to recognize the Community Health Alliance," said Dr. Sharon Wright with Western Surgical Group. "These are the same types of physicians, who are really passionate about taking care of every single patient in this community and making sure they have access to good care."

For more information visit Community Health Alliance's website here, and Western Surgical Group's website by clicking here.