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Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian cut the ceremonial ribbon on Thursday morning to mark the opening of the first full-service, county-operated health care clinic in the Palo Alto and Mountain View area called Valley Health Center North County, it is set to provide much-needed relief to patients and local clinics overwhelmed by demand.
Over 50 local officials and residents gathered to celebrate the opening of the clinic, which will start taking patients on Nov. 13.
In October 2021, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors – spearheaded by Simitian – unanimously approved the project, which has been in the works since then.
Santa Clara Valley Medical Center is one of the largest county health care providers in the state with three hospitals and now 14 clinics. But before the new clinic was created, lower-income north county residents had to travel to the Valley Health Center location in Sunnyvale, which could take a month to secure non-emergency appointments, or rely on other nonprofit clinics like the MayView Community Health Center and the Ravenswood Family Health Center.
While it makes sense that more county healthcare resources were focused in lower-income areas, Simitian said at a previous press conference, there are approximately 90,000 residents in his district making below 400% of the federal poverty limit, a measure used to determine eligibility for programs like reduced-cost health coverage.
“Among 400,000 folks, 20 to 25% of them are folks who make a modest living, who need this kind of health care, need these services,” he said at Thursday’s ceremony. “These are families that are trying to hang on.”
As he cut through the ribbon in front of the 24,500-square-foot building, located at 4151 Middlefield Road in Palo Alto, the crowd cheered.
The building, which was formerly used as offices, has been under construction since October 2023.
Andrellie Van Wageningen, primary care nursing director for Valley Medical Center, led a tour of the expansive, two-floor clinic, which will offer primary care, urgent care, geriatrics, pediatrics, gynecology, lab-work, mental health services, imaging services like mammograms and a pharmacy, among other things.
The Valley Health Center North County clinic is also equipped with an adult changing table, wheelchair accessible scales and accessible changing rooms, office spaces and conference rooms for collaboration and a large kitchen to host cooking classes in.
Santa Clara County clinics are more comprehensive than most, Santa Clara Valley Healthcare CEO Paul Lorenz said during the tour, as they’re more team- and patient-oriented, offering wraparound services like community health classes.
When the center opens, said clinic manager Esther Tablang, there will be a primary healthcare physician stationed in the family health care department and urgent care center.
Dr. Jeremiah Lee, Dr. Tina Wong and Family Medical Director Dr. Johnpaul Pham are set to take turns running the family medical department in the clinic – Dr. Archana Bhogill and nurse practitioner Jatinder Dhillon will service the urgent care department, according to Tablang.
The health center is still in the process of hiring more staff and would like to expand sooner than later, Tablang said.
The clinic will be open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., she said, and it plans to have capacity to serve over 17,000 patients in its first year, but there are plans to extend hours and reach more people over time.
“It is the first time in the county’s 174 year history that folks who need high quality, affordable health care will be able to get that care from a county facility when they need it, and right here where they need it,” Simitian said.
As chair of the county’s Health and Hospital Committee, Simitian has also helped establish a county-run clinic in Mountain View, multiple nearby dental clinics and Allcove, a Palo Alto-based physical and mental health care center for local youth.
Editor’s Note: This article corrects the spelling of Tina Wong’s name.
This is wonderful! It would be fabulous is they could dispense the free Covid tests from the county so we don’t have to drive all the way down to San Jose.
Thank you Joe Simitian for all the work you’ve done for the residents of your district.