Doctor Shortage Limits New San Rafael Health Clinic
By Richard Halstead, The Marin Independent Journal, Novato, Calif.
Jun. 26–A new health center scheduled to open in San Rafael’s Canal neighborhood next month will give the Marin Community Clinic lots of new space to examine patients.
But John Shen, the clinic’s executive director, said Wednesday that actual expansion of patient services at the clinic will occur gradually due to Marin’s shortage of doctors.
Close to 200 people attended a dedication Wednesday of the clinic’s new 13,000-square-foot health center at 3110 Kerner Blvd. The center, which will accommodate 18 new examination rooms, is scheduled to open July 21. Shen said unforeseen problems with soil stability complicated renovation of the building, which was last occupied by Lucasfilm’s Industrial Light & Magic.
Douglas Mundo, executive director of the Canal Welcome Center, said having the clinic office so close to the heart of the Canal community will make it easier for people to get to their appointments.
“People feel it belongs to the community. It makes a difference,” said Mundo, who was first treated by the community clinic when he moved to Marin from El Salvador.
Currently, many Canal residents must endure long bus rides to the clinic’s Greenbrae office. About 60 percent of the clinic’s patients are Latino and about 40 percent of its total patients live in the densely populated 6 square miles that comprise the Canal neighborhood.
The county of Marin contributed $1.3 million to the effort by making the building available to the clinic at a reduced cost, in addition to
channeling $50,000 in federal funds. The county acquired the building along with buildings at 3230, 3240, 3250, 3260 and 3270 Kerner Blvd. The other buildings will house the county’s new $72 million community health complex.
Other million-dollar donors to the $7 million project included: the Marin Community Foundation; Sutter Health; Dr. Melvin Grais, a retired physician who practiced in Marin before retiring to Palo Alto; and the John E. & Helen K. Cahill Fund, a donor-advised fund managed by the Marin Community Foundation.
The clinic also has plans to relocate its Novato office from its 4,000-square-foot space at 400 Professional Center Drive to a 9,600-square-foot space at 6100 Redwood Blvd. The new Novato office will house eight additional examination rooms. Elliot Levin, the San Rafael-based consultant overseeing the fundraising campaign, said the clinic needs to raise another $1 million to $1.5 million to reach its $9.8 million goal for completing both projects.
The clinic, which provides care for a large percentage of Marin County’s low-income and uninsured residents, needs more space to meet growing demand for its services. It had to decline 5,000 requests for patient care in 2006 because of a lack of capacity.
Despite all the new space coming on line, Shen said the clinic’s growth during the fiscal year that begins July 1 will be modest.
“Our growth depends not so much on the number of exam rooms as on our ability to recruit physicians and nurse practitioners,” Shen said.
Shen said many of the county’s doctors are nearing retirement age, and the county’s high cost of living makes recruiting replacements extremely difficult.
“Marin County is just too expensive for any physician coming into practice,” Shen said.
Read more San Rafael stories at the IJ’s San Rafael section.
Contact Richard Halstead via e-mail at rhalstead@marinij.com
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