Stanislaus County to look at moving clinic from Scenic to McHenry

Stanislaus County’s Health Services Agency proposes a $600,000 annual lease to move a medical office to the “Black Glass” building on McHenry Avenue, and wants to hire a consultant for long-range business and facility planning.

On Tuesday, the county Board of Supervisors will consider a 10-year lease agreement for 20,000 square feet at 1524 McHenry Ave. for the Specialty and Rehabilitation Clinics, which would move from the former county hospital on Scenic Drive in Modesto.

The clinics receive about 11,000 visits a year from patients who need to see specialists for knee and hip injuries; ear, nose and throat problems; neurological disorders; gastrointestinal problems and other health issues. The rehabilitation clinic also provides physical and occupational therapy and wound care.

About 37 employees work in the clinics, mostly serving patients in the Medi-Cal program. The county would pay $603,303 annually under the lease with the building owners including the Beebe Family Trust, 4701 Stoddard LLC, Circle Bar Investments, Voumard Properties, the Philip and Nella Mastagni 2000 Trust, Brice Draper and Sylvia Cox.

Patty Hill Thomas, chief operations officer for the county, said the specialty and rehabilitation clinics on Scenic are in one of the oldest public buildings in use in Modesto. The building is outdated, requires frequent repairs and has an elevator that breaks down.

The Health Services Agency also proposes to modernize the Family Medicine and Pediatrics Center at the Scenic campus, at a cost of around $170,000.

In late August, a multiday power failure at the Scenic complex darkened a number of buildings, took computers and phones out of service and resulted in some canceled appointments and inconveniences for patients.

Officials say the outage underscored the need for planning to assess the program and facility needs of the Health Services Agency. Supervisors could authorize a request for proposals Tuesday from consultants to help develop a business and facility plan.

With national health reforms, the county health clinics essentially stopped caring for patients under the adult indigent health program, as most of those adults were absorbed into the expanded Medi-Cal program. At the same time, Medi-Cal enrollment has surged and the county clinics in Modesto, Ceres, Hughson and Turlock remain a major component of the health care safety net.

The county has health services, public health, behavioral health and administrative offices at the Scenic complex, where the occupied structures were built between the early 1940s and the 1970s.

Hill Thomas said the old hospital buildings are inefficient, with leaky pipes, boilers and elevators that often need repair. The planning effort will look at future use or development options.

The improvements for the Family Medicine and Pediatrics Center, which was built in the late 1970s, would upgrade the patient care areas, restrooms, plumbing and wiring, and provide for safer management of medical wastes.

That clinic receives about 17,000 patient visits a year, with the services including family medicine, pediatrics, women’s services, pregnancy care and family planning.

This story was originally published March 20, 2016 at 6:13 PM with the headline "Stanislaus County to look at moving clinic from Scenic to McHenry."