Dr. John Bergren, a board-certified family medicine physician, will join the staff of Santa Cruz Mountain Health Center in Ben Lomond this summer.
Dr. Bergren, a longtime San Lorenzo Valley resident and medical provider spent the last 10 years as a physician with Dignity Health’s Boulder Creek Clinic until its recent closure. Throughout his 30-year career, Dr. Bergren has been interested in working with underserved rural populations with the bulk of it spent working in a small island community in Southeast Alaska, where he and his wife raised their two daughters. He enjoyed two sabbatical years in even farther-flung, remote places including South Africa and Antarctica. In 2012 Dr. Bergren and his family moved back to “civilization,” where he joined Dignity Health’s Boulder Creek.
“I am thrilled to join the new Mountain Health Center in Ben Lomond, where I look forward to continuing to serve my community in the San Lorenzo Valley,” he said.
Dr. Bergren will begin seeing patients in late July. He joins Dr. Rose Lovell at the Mountain Health Center, which opened in January 2022 in the historic Wee Kirk Church at the corner of Central and Main. Services include comprehensive primary care including pediatrics, vaccines, office-based addiction treatment, reproductive health, prenatal and behavioral health, with additional services coming soon. Patients can call now to schedule appointments at 831-427-3500.
“We want to serve our patients where they live,” said Leslie Conner, CEO of Santa Cruz Community Health, noting that many current SCCH patients reside in the San Lorenzo Valley. “SLV is a more rural region compared to much of Santa Cruz County and it has long been under-served. Our goal is to increase access to high-quality, affordable health care for the mountain community.”
Dr. Bergren lives in Boulder Creek with his wife Laurie. He enjoys the great beauty of the Santa Cruz Mountains, the many challenges of off-grid living and spending time with their dog.
About Santa Cruz Community Health
Through the Santa Cruz Women’s Health Center, Santa Cruz Mountain Health Center and our new Live Oak Health Center, Santa Cruz Community Health (a Federally Qualified Health Center) provides comprehensive primary care services in English and Spanish to all ages, genders, ethnicities, abilities and sexual orientation, regardless of their ability to pay. Seeded by the Santa Cruz Women’s Health Center in 1974, SCCH has maintained a 49-year commitment to its mission: to improve the health of its patients and the community and advocate the feminist goals of social, political, and economic equality. SCCH’s health centers serve over 12,000 patients through a dedicated staff of medical providers, nurses, licensed clinical social workers, case managers, health educators, promotores and administrative personnel.