Hoag is joining regional providers that have stepped in to offer more health services in San Clemente since the city’s community hospital closed almost a decade ago.
On Monday, July 14, a new 20,000-square-foot Hoag Health Center will open, giving deep South Orange County residents access to more specialty doctors, state-of-the-art technology and a one-of-a-kind “health lab” offering healthy living solutions from pilates to nutrition.
The facility includes an urgent care, primary care doctors and services for obstetrics, gynecology, orthopedics, radiology and sports medicine.
A community event Saturday, July 12, offered locals an opportunity to tour the facility and learn more about the services offered ahead of Monday’s opening. The center is Hoag’s 13th facility outside the hospital campuses in Newport Beach and Irvine.
The health center will help fill a void in the beach city and surrounding communities, along with other new facilities. MemorialCare Health System is building a walkable senior community with access to healthcare, including an urgent care facility, on the 6-acre property once home to the city’s hospital. Providence Health has also seen the wisdom of putting medical services in San Clemente and opened up a facility near the Shops of San Clemente that includes is a primary care clinic with urgent care.
Hoag President and CEO Robert Braithwaite described the county’s southernmost communities as a “health care desert,” adding that the region can also benefit from more specialized and targeted services in one place.
“There are about a million people south of the El Toro Y (in Lake Forest), there are certain geographic areas that do not have a lot of healthcare close to home and work,” Braithwaite said. “There’s also an opportunity to deliver a different type of health care in all of South Orange County, which fueled the decision to move Hoag services into South Orange County.”
“Most healthcare systems are defined by the sick care they provide,” he added. “So, Hoag made a commitment in 2018 where we really wanted to emphasize and integrate wellness services into the health portfolio. San Clemente is the perfect community; they love being active and are very mindful of their wellness. It’s the perfect place to drop in that integrated healthcare with all the wellness initiatives.”
“One of the biggest challenges,” Braithwaite said, per input from doctors and patients, is once a patient walks out with a diagnosis, they’re in a whole new world, often unguided.
“The health center bridges that moment which happens on every single doctor’s visit, whether you’re expecting or you have a single chronic disease,” he said. “The team that is in there, with the facility designed around it, will bridge that gap and get people on that wellness journey. Whether activating it from teaching, getting them to participate, helping them understand wearables and how to use those. The whole idea is to get them in, get them involved, let them learn under guidance. Physicians are right there too, and we found it’s just a far better engagement.”
Marcy Brown, senior vice president and COO at Hoag, said walking into the new center on Avenida Pico “doesn’t feel like a typical hospital health clinic.” The layout has an open and airy feel, with plenty of natural light and clean architectural lines. The entrance lobby aims for a spa-like ambiance.
Among the highlights and free to the community is the new Hoag Health Lab, which includes an exercise physiologist, dietitian, nutrition experts and a pilates instructor. The lab will offer those outside the health provider’s network a taste of Hoag’s services and care.
With the opening of the center, new physicians are joining the Hoag network and some who are already in the health system at other facilities will now work in San Clemente.
“We have physicians coming from the top academic medical health systems across the nation,” Brown said. “Because they can continue to do the research that they were able to do, launch clinical trials, and have fellowship programs here at Hoag. It’s very unique for a community hospital to have those aspects of health care.”
Ahead of the opening, Hoag offered a tour to city officials, including San Clemente Mayor Steve Knoblock.
“They have installed the latest and most up-to-date technology and skill sets at their new Pico facility,” he said. “We’re delighted they expanded their longstanding expertise in our community.”