Guerneville Clinic to Offer Ketamine-Assisted Group Therapy for Low-Income Residents

Russian River Health Center partners with Liminal Medicine to provide affordable psychedelic-assisted treatment.

Published on Mar. 2, 2026

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The Russian River Health Center in Guerneville, California is preparing to offer ketamine-assisted group therapy to its members, making the novel mental health treatment available to low-income residents who could not otherwise afford it. The clinic is partnering with Liminal Medicine, a Sebastopol-based center that offers psychedelic-assisted therapy, to provide the treatment in a group setting, which greatly reduces the cost and allows patients with Medi-Cal insurance to access it.

Why it matters

Mental illness is a significant health issue affecting many of the clinic's patients, who often face higher rates of trauma and social stressors due to living in poverty. Providing access to effective mental health treatments like ketamine-assisted therapy can have a profound impact on their overall wellbeing and ability to manage other chronic conditions.

The details

The partnership took about two years to establish, requiring approval from the clinic's malpractice insurer and Medi-Cal administrator. Liminal Medicine's medical director, Dr. Suegee Tamar-Mattis, reached out to the clinic's director of psychiatry, Dr. Michael Kozart, to propose the group therapy model. This model reduces the cost of the treatment, which can otherwise be prohibitively expensive, from up to $7,500 for individual sessions down to $2,500-$3,500 for a full course of group therapy.

  • The pilot project involving 10 patients took place last year.
  • The clinic plans to make the ketamine-assisted group therapy available to eligible patients by spring 2026.

The players

Russian River Health Center

A Federally Qualified Health Center that runs clinics in Guerneville, Sebastopol, Forestville and Occidental, California.

Liminal Medicine

A Sebastopol-based center that offers psychedelic-assisted therapy for people with certain mental health and substance use disorders.

Dr. Jason Cunningham

CEO of West County Health Centers, which runs the Guerneville clinic.

Dr. Suegee Tamar-Mattis

Medical director of Liminal Medicine.

Dr. Michael Kozart

Director of psychiatry at West County Health Centers.

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What they’re saying

“Our patients that we serve have a higher rate of trauma and a higher rate of social stressors because of living in poverty. We need to make sure we find treatment that is effective for mental illness … the problem is people don't have access to it.”

— Dr. Jason Cunningham, CEO of West County Health Centers (pressdemocrat.com)

“In a medical setting, it can be used safely. There's not really a contradiction there … the reason ketamine has gotten such a bad rap, besides the very high-profile people who abuse it, is it's a pleasurable experience.”

— Anne Tamar-Mattis, Administrative director of Liminal Medicine (pressdemocrat.com)

“It's amazing how many of our folks are affected by things in the world. It's sort of the way that we can combine everything that we can do that's spiritual, that's humanitarian, that's communal, with a biological approach that helps break down the barriers that allows these folks who are so alienated from one another to really, really feel that connectedness.”

— Dr. Michael Kozart, Director of psychiatry at West County Health Centers (pressdemocrat.com)

What’s next

The clinic and Liminal Medicine will assess whether patients should have periodic ketamine treatments after the initial series to help sustain the positive effects.

The takeaway

This partnership represents a groundbreaking effort to make innovative, evidence-based mental health treatments like ketamine-assisted therapy accessible to low-income individuals who have historically faced barriers to accessing such care. It demonstrates how community health centers can leverage creative collaborations to address critical gaps in mental healthcare.