Palomar Health ready to break ground for clinic

PPH Ramona Clinic Rendering.WEBBy Karen Brainard

Palomar Health will break ground on the long-awaited Ramona satellite clinic on Wednesday, June 20.

The event will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the clinic site, 211 13th St., across from Ramona Library. The groundbreaking program will begin at 12:15 p.m.

Palomar Health’s satellite clinic will be called the Ramona Ambulatory Care Center, incorporating the common term used for outpatient clinics, said Dr. Marcelo Rivera, chair of the Palomar Health Facilities and Grounds Committee and a Ramona resident.

With the June groundbreaking, the public health agency is looking at completing the project around April 2013, said Michael Shanahan, director of Palomar Health facilities planning.

Shanahan told members of the Palomar Health Facilities and Grounds Committee at its June 4 meeting that San Diego County Department of Public Works had just approved the grading for the site.

“We’re looking forward to the groundbreaking,” he said.

The one-story, 7,600- square-foot building designed by Mascari Warner Architects will occupy about one acre of Palomar Health-owned property north of Main Street between 13th and 14th streets. Palomar Health and its affiliated physician organization, Arch Health Partners, will provide primary care, urgent care, and some specialty services such as radiology.

Plans call for the urgent care to be open in the evenings during the week and part time on Saturdays, said Cindy Villalobos, a clinical supervisor with Arch Health in Ramona. As the need for urgent care increases, so will the hours, she said, which could include Sundays.

With a total of three acres at the clinic’s site, Palomar Health officials say they have the room for possible expansion.

The clinic has been downsized from the original plans of a two-story, 36,650-square-foot building that was approved by the Ramona Design Review Board in fall 2009.

The downturn in the economy and less tenant commitments contributed to the downsizing, said health officials. With no other partners, the clinic will be solely funded by Palomar Health.

Total cost of the project is estimated at $6 million, according to Shanahan. Money for the project comes from a $496 million bond that voters approved in November 2004.

Parking for the event will be available at Calvary Chapel at 114 14th St. Visitors are encouraged to wear comfortable shoes as the event will be held on a construction site. Light hors d’oeuvres and refreshments will be served.

Palomar Health asks that those planning to attend RSVP to events@pph.org by June 13.