New health care center opens in rural Santa Clara County community
MORGAN HILL, Calif. - Access to health care can be a challenge in some of the Bay Area’s more rural areas. On Friday, Santa Clara County dedicated a new facility to help meet that need.
The new medical campus is located in Morgan Hill.
The goal is to keep patients like Mark Baerenstecher from having to leave the south county area and drive to more distant medical facilities in San Jose or elsewhere.
"So coming to a place which is just five or 10 minutes away is awesome," Baerenstecher said. Adding,"The services here are quick, speedy, and I could come in with a small wait (time). I got scheduled quickly and got to be seen that day," Baerenstecher said.
The south county area is the most rural area of Santa Clara County and doctors say a lack of easy access to health care is just one main reason that some with the greatest needs don't seek treatment.
"It is very important for patients to be able to have primary care, to have preventative care to be able to know ahead of time rather than ending up in the emergency room that they have some medical condition that we can treat and keep stable," said Dr. Angela Suarez, the director of primary care for Santa Clara Valley Healthcare.
The new facility is at the site of the former De Paul health center which the county purchased in 2019. The hope is by having an easily accessible urgent care center and a wider range of medical services in the community, patients will also stay out of emergency rooms for issues which are not actual emergencies.
"So access to health care, from an equity standpoint and just generally speaking, is really important," said Paul Lorenz, CEO of Santa Clara Valley Healthcare.
On Monday, the urgent care center will open with extended evening hours. The facility will also have weekend and holiday hours.
A larger array of services, including primary care, general surgery, OBGYN, and other specialties will open in the months ahead.
"So it is really important that we bring the services to the community in the community. And that is what we are doing," Lorenz said. The new center is expected to serve about 15,000 patients each year.