FACEY GROUP GROWS WITH SANTA CLARITA VALLEY.

Byline: Amy Raisin Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - Facey Medical Group established a small practice in Valencia in 1968, and just as population in the Santa Clarita Valley has exploded, the medical care provider is expanding to meet community health care needs.

``The Santa Clarita Valley is probably our fastest growing patient area,'' said Rick Swanson, chief operating officer for Facey Medical Group. ``We're running out of bricks and mortar capacity to serve patients.''

In addition to expanding current facilities, Facey is building a new 8,800-square-foot office on Copperhill Drive and Seco Canyon Road. With a projected February 2002 opening date, the facility, while designed to accommodate five doctors, will feature a pediatrician, an internist and a family practitioner when doors open.

Swanson said the new facility, part of a new shopping center development, is a prime location due to the housing developments taking shape in the area.

``The homes get built first and the commercial property comes second,'' Swanson said. ``We want to be close to the growth to best serve the community.

Started in 1923 by Dr. Frederick Facey, the medical group's roots sprouted from a little storefront practice on Brand Boulevard in San Fernando.

Today, Facey Medical Group includes more than 100 physicians practicing in the Santa Clarita, San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys.

For an indication of population growth throughout the Santa Clarita Valley, one need look only as far as the plans to triple the size of the medical group's Castaic office.

Since 1998, Maria Minosa has been the sole doctor at the Castaic Road facility. With nearly 2,000 patients and no population ebb in sight, Minosa is thrilled with the expansion plans.

``The community has more than tripled and with that, being the only medical (doctor) here in the community is daunting,'' Minosa said. ``There's dentistry and physical therapy, but I'm it for all medical purposes.''

She added that the Castaic expansion - also part of a shopping center - is aimed at space, rather than equipment upgrades.

``We are pretty self-sufficient here. We send our chemistry work to labs, but we do our own X-rays and EKGs,'' she said, admitting the single wall used for holding medical charts is overflowing.

As the closest office to Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital, Facey's Valencia location will transition to a more specialized office, Swanson said, housing the medical group's obstetrics and gynecology, gastroenterology, general surgery and rheumatology departments.

Swanson said he expects one Valencia-based physician will eventually transfer to the new Copperhill Drive facility, which will also feature physical therapy and behavioral science services.