Denise Ramos, Health Center Manager, walks around the new Valley Health Center Gilroy on the corner of Arroyo Circle and Gilman Road recently. The center is set to open in early October.
The San Martin county medical offices are getting a facelift, and a new home.
Slated to open for business Oct. 7, Valley Health Center Gilroy boasts 49 examination rooms, three treatment and seven dental rooms. The sparkling 59,000-square-foot facility dwarfs the current center in San Martin that's bursting at the seams.
Healthcare Manager Denise Ramos roamed through the nearly completed building Wednesday morning, showing off the pristine examining rooms and spacious laboratories.
"It's a dream come true," she said, opening a door to one of the empty offices. "It's a new concept for our physicians to have their own offices."
On any given day, dozens of staff members and patients are crammed into the San Martin facility that's 12,000 square feet, a fifth the size of the new center.
"This is the size of our old pharmacy," Ramos said gesturing to a closet off the new building's pharmacy. Up to four pharmacists would have to maneuver around each other in the cramped quarters. The new pharmacy consists of several semi-private windows where patients can confer with pharmacists.
The new clinic will offer services to South County patients - 65 percent from Gilroy alone - that were previously a 45 minute drive away, at the county's main campus in San Jose. Valley Health Center Gilroy is partnering with Saint Louise Regional Hospital and the Gardner Family Health Network to offer a new service to pregnant mothers in South County.
"Any family that comes through our services may deliver (babies) at Saint Louise," Ramos said of the new option. "Women love it. They won't have to drive 35 miles to (Valley Medical Center)."
The clinic will also offer a variety of outpatient services including pediatrics, opthamology, dentistry, adult medicine, family practice, obstetrics and gynecology - which includes a pregnancy evaluation program that deals with gestational diabetes and hypertension and provides ultrasound. Expanded support services offer a pharmacy and an on-site clinical laboratory and radiology. The clinic will move into the digital age and away from analog equipment as well.
Patients walking into the San Martin clinic check in at a counter surrounded by stacks of medical records. The new clinic has an entire room devoted to administrative services and record keeping.
Clean lines and lots of light create a welcoming atmosphere. Ramos pointed out touches that may seem small but go a long way to make patients feel at ease. Three dressing rooms in the radiology suite will allow patients more privacy when changing, Ramos said. Currently, they have to undress in the examination room. An artist is working with a local elementary school to commission sculptures for the building's exterior, she said, and textured, cozy art will be hung about the waiting rooms.
The current staff will move into the new facilities, as is. "We're moving with what we have based on the budget," Ramos said. "It's up to the board of supervisors to expand."
If the board of supervisors gives the green light, new positions will be added, she said. The clinic has the capacity to accommodate patients, just not the providers. Only 10 physicians and about 30 members of the support staff provide their services through the clinic. New patients could have to wait four to six weeks to get an appointment. The new center is designed to accommodate 23 physicians and dentists, with a total annual capacity for more than 100,000 patient visits.
Many of the patients that use county facilities put off healthcare until it's an urgent need, Ramos said. The center does not provide emergency services and only provides same-day access for established patients.
Sara Suddes Sara Suddes is the education reporter for South Valley Newspapers. Send her an email or (408) 847-7158.
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A new home for San Martin medical offices
