TUCSON, Ariz. (October 13, 2026) — Casino Del Sol, the award-winning resort enterprise owned and operated by the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, today announced a new partnership with El Rio Health to bring medical care directly to Tucson residents experiencing homelessness. Casino Del Sol has committed $20,000 to El Rio Health’s Street Medicine program, which sends clinical teams into shelters, soup kitchens, and the washes where many of Tucson’s unhoused neighbors live. In a separate commitment, Casino Del Sol will serve as entertainment sponsor of the El Rio Foundation’s 2026 gala, Celebración Española, on Saturday, October 17, at The Westin La Paloma Resort & Spa.
Tucson’s unhoused population is estimated at 1,500 to 4,000 people, and El Rio’s street teams report seeing more families, more women, and more seniors than in years past, along with many people living with mental illness and substance use. For people facing these circumstances, a first medical visit is often the first step toward trust. The partnership is built around that idea: meet people where they are, care for their immediate needs, and stay with them on the path to lasting care.
“Caring for Southern Arizona means showing up for the neighbors who are hardest to reach. El Rio’s street medicine teams do exactly that. They meet people where they are, earn their trust, and open the door to the care everyone deserves. The Pascua Yaqui Tribe knows what it means to build health and opportunity from the ground up, and we are proud to stand behind this work,” said Amanda Sampson Lomayesva, Interim CEO of Casino Del Sol.
Meeting People Where They Are
Overseen by Dr. Joy Mockbee, El Rio Health’s four Street Medicine teams pair a Family Nurse Practitioner with a Medical Assistant and a Care Coordinator, and a Behavioral Health Consultant and Behavioral Health Case Manager are available to support them. The teams follow a set schedule across 19 shelter locations, including sites such as Casa María Soup Kitchen, Sister José Women’s Center, Gospel Rescue Mission’s Center of Opportunity, The Salvation Army, and Old Pueblo Community Services, and they also reach people in encampments, parks, and the washes where many camp. One team runs a weekly walk-in clinic for people experiencing homelessness at El Rio’s Cherrybell Health Center. In a typical year, the teams care for more than 8,500 unique patients across more than 25,000 patient encounters.
Rather than waiting for patients at a parked mobile clinic, providers go on foot to find people who would otherwise go unseen. The teams treat heat exhaustion and sunburn in the summer and wound infections, manage chronic conditions such as diabetes and heart disease, help replace lost medications, and distribute Narcan. Every patient has an electronic medical chart in El Rio’s integrated electronic health record, linking care on the street to El Rio’s health centers and to partner hospitals. The program also works with Tucson police and fire to reach residents who rely heavily on emergency services, easing the strain on first responders.
Additional services extend that reach. A monthly drawing by the Dental Department provides free dentures to uninsured patients, and each October El Rio offers mammograms.
“Street medicine is often the very first point of contact someone has with health care in a long time, and that first visit is where trust begins. Our teams show up on a schedule, week after week, so patients know we will be there. Casino Del Sol’s support helps us reach more of our neighbors, treat what they need today, and connect them to the coverage and ongoing care that can change the direction of their lives,” said Brenda Goldsmith, Executive Director of the El Rio Health Center Foundation.
From the Street to Lasting Coverage
Information gathered by the street teams goes to El Rio’s health insurance navigators, who help patients begin applications for coverage through AHCCCS, Arizona’s Medicaid program. That work is growing. El Rio navigators submitted more than 25,000 Medicaid applications last year. With new federal requirements calling for members to renew coverage twice a year and, in some cases, document 80 hours a month of work, school, or volunteering, El Rio expects to assist in more than 50,000 applications in 2027. Navigators and Community Health Advisors also connect patients with employment, housing, food, and other community resources. AHCCCS members can learn whether their coverage may be affected, and find help renewing, at keepmyahcccs.com.
Shared Roots in the Community
The partnership builds on long-standing ties between the two organizations. El Rio Health operates the El Rio Pascua Health Clinic on the Pascua Yaqui Tribe’s reservation, and in 2025 El Rio served 7,178 American Indian and Native patients in Pima County, according to its Uniform Data System report to the federal government. Casino Del Sol has also supported Old Pueblo Community Services and Gospel Rescue Mission, two of the organizations where El Rio’s teams deliver care.
El Rio Health serves more than 130,000 Tucson residents, about one in nine members of the community, and is the 18th-largest community health center in the United States. Earlier this year, El Rio assumed operations of 11 clinics in northern Arizona, preserving care for about 50,000 patients and 400 jobs in communities including Flagstaff, Page, the Grand Canyon, and Lake Havasu City.
Celebración Española: El Rio Foundation’s 2026 Gala
Casino Del Sol will bring the entertainment to Celebración Española, the El Rio Foundation’s 2026 gala, on Saturday, October 17, 2026, at The Westin La Paloma Resort & Spa. The gala is one of Tucson’s signature community evenings,and proceeds benefit El Rio’s Health Eligibility & Community Resources program, the navigator and advisor team that helps patients secure health coverage and address transportation, housing, and food insecurity. Tickets and sponsorships are available at elrio.org/foundation
The Partnership by the Numbers:
Partners
Casino Del Sol and El Rio Health
Street Medicine Commitment
$20,000 from Casino Del Sol
Gala
El Rio Foundation’s Celebración Española, Saturday, October 17, 2026, The Westin La Paloma Resort & Spa
Casino Del Sol Gala Role
Entertainment Sponsor
Street Medicine Teams
Four teams, each with a Family Nurse Practitioner, a Medical Assistant, and a Care Coordinator, supported by a Behavioral Health Consultant and a Behavioral Health Case Manager
Where Care Happens
19 shelter locations plus encampments and parks; a weekly walk-in clinic for people experiencing homelessness at Cherrybell Health Center
Patients Reached Each Year
More than 8,500 unique patients and more than 25,000 patient encounters
Tucson’s Unhoused Population
Estimated 1,500 to 4,000 people
El Rio Health Patients
More than 130,000 Tucson residents, about one in nine
Medicaid Applications
More than 25,000 last year; more than 50,000 expected in 2027
American Indian and Native Patients
7,178 served in Pima County (El Rio UDS 2025 report)
Street Medicine Lead
Dr. Joy Mockbee
Coverage Resources
More Information
www.CasinoDelSol.com | www.elrio.org
Together, Casino Del Sol and El Rio Health are investing in the same belief: that every member of the Tucson community deserves care, dignity, and a path forward. The partnership pairs the Pascua Yaqui Tribe’s generations of commitment to Southern Arizona with El Rio’s more than five decades of community health care, starting with the neighbors who need it most.