ORANGE, Calif. (August 13, 2026) — Today, CalOptima Health celebrates the unveiling of its Care Traffic Control Center, an innovative, one-of-a-kind space designed to improve health care outcomes for members experiencing homelessness and promote collaboration across CalOptima Health’s Street Medicine Program teams. Supported by a $2 million federal grant and CalOptima Health reserve funds, the center is a hub that brings all the CalOptima Health Street Medicine field teams together so they can combine resources, learn from each other and ultimately strengthen service delivery. Street Medicine currently operates in the cities of Garden Grove, Anaheim, Costa Mesa and Santa Ana.
U.S. Representatives Lou Correa and Young Kim led the effort to secure the federal grant for CalOptima Health as both represent areas served by the Street Medicine Program. The heart of the new center is a coordinated data system, which connects clinicians, care navigators and team leaders to members’ records, facilitates real-time navigation to resources, and gathers consistent information used to measure program success. The data can be shown on a cutting-edge 20-by-5.5-foot ultrawide display screen that fills the room where the teams gather for meetings. More than 40 team members work in the center.
“Orange County is seeing the number of uninsured in our community grow. Emergency rooms should not be a primary source of health care. Our unhoused population will be able to turn to CalOptima Health’s growing Street Medicine Program as a real alternative,” said Rep. Lou Correa, who represents California’s 46th District in Orange County. “I’m proud to have secured $2 million in federal funding to help build the Care Traffic Control Center, which will ensure better coordinated care for those who currently rely on Street Medicine as their primary option.”
“This investment shows what’s possible when we bring federal resources and local innovation together to take on homelessness, one of the greatest challenges facing our community,” said Rep. Young Kim, who represents California’s 40th District, which includes Orange County. “Congratulations to CalOptima Health and everyone who worked to make this vision a reality.”
“This center represents the future of Street Medicine, helping our teams deliver coordinated care to people experiencing homelessness through people, technology and data,” said Vicente Sarmiento, Orange County Supervisor and Chair of the CalOptima Health Board of Directors. “The technology helps us identify gaps in care, measure our impact and continuously improve the services we provide.”
“Today marks a milestone for CalOptima Health and the communities we serve,” said Kelly Bruno-Nelson, DSW, Executive Director, Medi-Cal/CalAIM, who oversees the Care Traffic Control Center. “This facility welcomes our partners and invites them to embrace our health plan’s vision of innovation and compassion. By uniting our dedicated teams and harnessing technology, we meet members where they are and provide them with the dignified services they deserve on their journey to permanent housing.”
The opening of the Care Traffic Control Center comes on the heels of the CalOptima Health Board of Directors’ August 6 approval to expand the Street Medicine Program using a regional approach, joining together Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach, Seal Beach and Westminster as the Coastal Cities Continuum. The new program is anticipated to launch in mid-2027. Together, these actions reflect CalOptima Health’s ongoing commitment to expanding health care access and boosting the delivery of quality services to Orange County’s unhoused population.