CLINIC OPENS MEDICAL OFFICES SERVE SOUTH VALLEY.

PALMDALE - Antelope Valley Hospital's $5.8 million Palmdale clinic opened Monday, signaling an expansion of medical services for the southern part of Antelope Valley, hospital officials said.

The 29,000-square-foot, two-story clinic at 40th Street East and Palmdale Boulevard is home to a Los Angeles County primary health clinic, which was formerly in leased offices on Palmdale Boulevard.

``This is a great expansion of services by Antelope Valley Hospital,'' hospital Director Gary Hill said. ``This is phase one of the south valley complex, which will lead to an ultimate second hospital for the district.''

County health workers moved into the clinic over the weekend, and Antelope Valley Hospital's obstetrics program and a government nutrition program for women and children are scheduled to move into the facility next week, officials said.

Those two programs and the county's clinic had previously been housed in office space at 15th Street East and Palmdale Boulevard.

The clinic is the third that has opened under a partnership between the hospital and the county. Two other clinics are located in Littlerock and Lake Los Angeles.

The hospital built the Palmdale clinic and is letting the county use it at no cost.

``The Antelope Valley Hospital board needs to be recognized for the commitment it has made to improve the quality of care in the south valley,'' said Tim Moore, assistant hospital administrator at county-run High Desert Hospital. ``None of this would have been possible for us without Antelope Valley making the building available. It's a very unique partnership.''

Urgent care services won't start for another four to five months as the county awaits budget approval and completes a bidding process. At least two physician groups have expressed interest in providing ``emergent'' care services at the clinic.

The new county clinic occupies half of the first floor, 6,500 square feet of space compared with 4,600 square feet at the former site. The number of examination rooms has doubled to 12, Moore said.

``We outgrew the other facility within the first few weeks. We will see more volume and offer more services,'' registered nurse Bobbie Jordan said.

The county clinic plans to add one more full-time physician to the two already on staff. The clinic also has two part-time physicians and a full- time nurse practitioner.

Plans also call for the clinic to offer specialty care, such as orthopedics, general surgery, and gynecology, and X-ray and laboratory services.

``We're trying to bring more services closer to where the patients live and cut down on requiring patients to travel,'' Moore said.

Hill said the hospital is working with the local bus agency to place bus stops near the clinic to make it easier for people to get there.

The county clinic hours remain the same, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

The county clinic sees between 1,300 to 1,400 patients a month.

High Desert Hospital's auxiliary donated $7,500 to purchase artwork to decorate the clinic, Moore said.

The Palmdale clinic was supposed to open in September 2000, but that date was postponed several times because of delays in getting modular buildings and the delivery of the building's elevator, officials said.

The clinic has been billed as the launch of a three-phase plan to build a hospital in Palmdale. It will offer primary care and ``emergent'' care services - an around-the-clock facility staffed by emergency room physicians seven days a week.

If patients need to be admitted, they will be transported to Antelope Valley Hospital in Lancaster once they are stabilized. Life-threatening situations will still be sent to Antelope Valley Hospital after being evaluated in the field by emergency personnel.

In May, Antelope Valley Hospital officials announced plans to form a partnership with local physicians to move forward with building a hospital in Palmdale.

The city of Palmdale also is entertaining a proposal by a Pennsylvania company to build a 120-bed hospital on the city's west side.

Palmdale lost its only hospital in March 1996, when Desert Palms Community Hospital closed. Since then, hospital officials and Palmdale city officials have been looking for a way to provide medical services to residents in south Antelope Valley.

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Patients wait for care at the new Antelope Valley Hospital health clinic, which opened Monday in Palmdale.

(2 -- color) Nurse Azenet Nunez takes a patient's blood pressure Monday at the new Antelope Valley Hospital clinic.

(3) The nursing station at the new medical clinic in Palmdale awaits patients from the south Antelope Valley.

Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News