Nine years after the city’s community hospital was shuttered, San Clemente residents will soon have expanded access to health care services with the planned summer opening of Hoag Health Center San Clemente. Set to be completed by July, the 22,000-square-foot facility will offer a range of medical services tailored to the needs of the local community.
Robert Braithwaite, CEO of Hoag, provided an update on the center’s progress and its significance for San Clemente.
“The vast majority of the facility will be clinical services,” he said. “It will have primary care services, family practice, internal medicine, urgent care, OB-GYN services, sports medicine, orthopedics, full diagnostic imaging, and specialties such as endocrinology, rheumatology, and dermatology.”
Construction of the health center has been moving forward steadily.
“They have finished all the major plumbing and mechanical work, and now they’re putting up walls,” Braithwaite said. “In the next two to three weeks, all the walls and drywall will be up, and then the project will transition to the finishing work.”
Some major milestones have already been achieved, including securing approval from the city and obtaining the lease for the building, which was previously occupied by Office Depot in Plaza Pacifica Shopping Center on Avenida Pico, near Avenida La Pata. The final steps before the official opening include the installation of state-of-the-art imaging equipment, such as MRI and PET-CT scanners. “That’s millions of dollars in equipment that has to be delivered and set up,” Braithwaite noted.
The opening of Hoag Health Center is expected to significantly benefit San Clemente residents. Since the closure of the city’s hospital in 2016, many have had to travel outside the area for specialized medical care.
“When this center is up and running, so much of that health care will be provided back here in their own hometown,” Braithwaite said. In addition to medical services, the center will emphasize health and wellness offerings for the community.
Hoag has actively engaged with local organizations, including homeowners’ associations, clubs, senior centers, assisted living facilities, city officials, and businesses, to shape the center’s services around community needs. The organization is also partnering with local youth sports leagues and other groups to promote health initiatives.