An urgent care service has been approved for coastal San Mateo County residents south of Pacifica who lost their emergency facility after storm damage.
San Mateo supervisors unanimously approved a resolution Tuesday last week granting $480,879 to Dignity Health Medical Foundation for a six-month program.
In April, Seton Medical Center, the only coastal emergency facility, was shut down to undergo building repairs because of storm damage. Coastal residents had to travel long distances for emergency medical care.
Although the resolution provides an emergency medical option, several operational issues were raised by the public. The proposed hours for urgent care are not 24/7. It is proposed to be open Wednesday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. It was unclear whether all insurance would be accepted and whether X-ray services would be available.
Ray Mueller, the District 3 supervisor, said the contract was reached in a hurry, and though imperfect, helps satisfy immediate public medical needs.
“If we were going to be starting from scratch with a timeline that we could go ahead and get the most robust urgent care possible, this would not be it,” he said. “We are trying to satisfy a need right now.”
It is anticipated that the clinic will have three urgent care staffers by Oct. 1. The pilot will also collect and provide data on the demand for urgent care services.
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