Local medical clinic expands Local medical clinic expands (February 27, 2004)

Renovation will be completed this fall
The Palo Alto Medical Foundation's Los Altos Center has embarked on what officials say is a much-needed expansion.

The expansion will nearly double the medical center's size -- both in square footage and, over time, in the number of doctors who practice there.

Since opening in 1994, the center has leased half of a building complex at 370 Distel Circle in Los Altos. When the other half was vacated, the Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF) purchased the entire complex and is combining the two buildings into one facility.

The expansion is needed due to growth in the number of patients served by the Los Altos Center, explained Monica Hester, the center's operations manager.

"Over the last decade, we have had a terrific growth rate, exceeding a 10 percent annual increase in patient volume,'' she said.

Currently, the Los Altos Center serves about 18,000 patients.

The new building will add about 13,000 new square feet to the medical center's campus -- enough to create office space for 14 new full-time physicians and 28 new exam rooms.

The center also plans to add nine new exam rooms to its current building as space is relieved. It will also expand its laboratory facilities and build a new conference room.

As it adds new physicians, the Los Altos Center will remain focused on primary care, offering family practice, internal medicine, pediatrics and obstetrics and gynecology services. The center also provides care in aviation medicine and some radiology services.

Construction crews began work on the new facility last September and PAMF officials say the move-in date is planned for this summer. Renovation of the existing building should be completed in the fall.

"Our current space has a cozy, calm feel to it, which is especially nice for a primary care setting,'' Hester pointed out.

"We will be trying to create the same atmosphere in the new facility, as well as continuing to focus on effective patient flow.''

Hester predicts that the Los Altos Center will host an open house to allow patients to tour the new facility once it is finished.
-- Bay City News

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