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The eagerly-awaited Carolyn J. Stone Center for Women's Health and Wellness celebrates its grand opening today at Sonoma Valley Hospital.

"It's very exciting, it's something we've dreamed of for a long time," said Carolyn Stone, chair of the Sonoma Valley Hospital Foundation and namesake of the center. The program began as a good idea, but with the support of about 25 Valley women, became a full health center reality inside of two years.

"It is a tremendously talented and dedicated group of women," said Patricia Brooks, the center's interim director. "They have expertise in business development, marketing, health care, everything." For the time being, the center will be housed in the hospital. When the center's digital mammography machine and bone density scanner arrive at the end of summer, the center will likely be moved to a satellite location in the Perkins Street medical complex.

"It is a program of the hospital," Brooks said. "Whether it could be a free standing entity is left to be seen."

The center aims to treat women at all stages of life, from youth to the elderly. The center will focus heavily on education by offering classes, support groups and resources to allow women to better understand their health and wellness. Additionally, the center will provide experts to help patients navigate the health-care system, provide referrals and be a shoulder to lean on. "If they need help, they can come to the women's center and someone will be there to guide them," Stone said.

The center began as an idea the Sonoma Valley Hospital Foundation had in 2006 to better integrate women's health services into the hospital. The group started with a $100,000 endowment and began fundraising for the initiative, which they decided to name the Carolyn J. Stone Women's Health and Wellness Center, honoring Stone's decades of service to the foundation. "I was quite honored by that," Stone said.

Sonoman Karen Collins stepped in to lead the community advisory board, which took over the program planning in early 2007. Collins, a breast cancer survivor, was eager to get involved.

"I had this incredibly positive treatment from Sonoma Valley Hospital and I thought maybe there was some way to give back," Collins said. She was able to help bring on dozens of other women interested in making this dream a reality.

"They're the 'take no prisoners' women who get things done," Collins said. "The first thing we decided is that we didn't know very much."

The group set out to study similar programs around the Bay Area, and were most impressed by the UCSF National Center for Excellence in Women's Health. The community advisory board was able to establish a relationship with the program in UCSF, which in the future could bring women's health specialists from San Francisco to treat women in Sonoma.

"We wanted to collaborate with UCSF, and now we have a really good relationship," Collins said.

The center hired D.A. Warren, a former nurse, to act as program coordinator. Warren worked closely with representatives from the UCSF center to prepare the Stone Center for the opening. Warren also learned about alternative sources of funding and grants to cover the center's costs.

The women's center can receive funding from the hospital because it is in essence a department of the facility. However, numerous philanthropic campaigns covered many of the facility's costs, and the hospital foundation has also provided thousands in financial support.

Ideally, SVH officials are hoping the center can help boost the cash-strapped hospital's bottom line by bringing in more patients seeking the special attention and care the women's center will provide. "The hospital has been going through so much it really needs this shot in the arm," Collins said.

A special opening night party and ribbon-cutting, to be attended by area politicians including 1st District Supervisor Valerie Brown and 6th District Assemblymember Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, will take place today, Tuesday, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Reservations are required by calling 935-5070.

The center is still young, and organizers say the sky is the limit as to where the center could go.

"It's only the start," Collins said, adding that the women of the advisory board are not done yet. "The women really are amazing. They're engaged and really invested in this center."

The center will be open Monday through Wednesday, and is housed inside the hospital at 347 Andrieux St. For more information, call 935-5055 or visit www.stonewomnscenter.com.

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