Residents of Belle Haven seeking nearby medical care will be able to get more services over longer hours starting about September, when the Belle Haven Clinic becomes a branch of the Ravenswood Family Health Center in East Palo Alto.
Ravenswood will add pediatric and pre-natal services, and extend hours. The clinic will be open five days a week instead of four, and have longer hours. “As we grow, we plan to be open some evenings and weekends,” said Kathleen Alexander, development director for Ravenswood.
In the first year, Ms. Alexander expects the new clinic will see an increase of more than 2,000 visits over the present 3,050 per year. If each patient averages three visits, “that’s an additional 500 to 700 patients,” she said.
On June 20, the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors approved transferring operations and management of the clinic from the county to the four-year-old health center based in East Palo Alto. The transfer will have “no net county cost and will improve health care,” said Nancy Steiger, CEO of the San Mateo Medical Center.
Ms. Alexander noted that the nonprofit health center could leverage different kinds of funding sources. “We’re able to bring in money the county can’t,” she told the Almanac.
When the Ravenswood center takes over in September, the county staff will be transferred, and Ravenswood will provide doctors and staff, Ms. Alexander said.
