HEALTH CLINIC EXPANDING HOURS; YEAR-OLD INSTITUTION SCHEDULED TO BE OPEN MORNINGS, WEEKENDS.

Byline: Daily News

The 13-month-old health clinic made possible through an agreement between Antelope Valley Hospital and Los Angeles County has extended its operating hours to mornings and weekends.

Effective Monday, the Palmdale Primary Care Center will be open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays, officials said.

``Our backlogs were too long and we want to be able to provide service to more people,'' said Tim Moore, assistant hospital administrator at High Desert Hospital, partner with the Antelope Valley Hospital district in operating the clinic.

The longer hours were made possible by an expansion of ambulatory care approved countywide by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Feb. 2, Moore said.

The supervisors' vote also made possible a clinic in Lake Los Angeles, where remodeling is under way on a storefront in the Saddleback Plaza shopping center and a clinic in Littlerock, where the hospital district is negotiating to lease space.

In its first year, the Palmdale clinic provided more than 8,600 patient visits, equally divided between children and adults. Fifty-eight percent of the patients had not previously been treated at High Desert or the county's Antelope Valley Health Center.

Patients requiring specialty services are referred to High Desert.

The clinic is at 1529 E. Palmdale Blvd., Suite 207. Appointments can be made by calling [phone].

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PHOTO (Color) Nurse Bobbie Wilson, left, and nurse Jeff Stephens care for 4-month-old Jasmin Taylor at the Palmdale Primary Care Center.

Jeff Goldwater/Daily News