Santa Cruz Community Health (SCCH) has announced that Dr. John Bergren, a board-certified family medicine physician, will join the staff of Santa Cruz Mountain Health Center in Ben Lomond this summer.
Bergren, a longtime San Lorenzo Valley resident and medical provider, spent the past 10 years as a physician with Dignity Health’s Boulder Creek Clinic until its recent closure.
Throughout his 30-year career, 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, 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.
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 behavior 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 SCCH, 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.”
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.
