Health care: Providing equal access in the West Valley
Every supervisorial district in Santa Clara County contains roughly the same population: about 400,000 residents. Four of our five districts have at least three, in some cases four, County-owned clinics or hospitals that offer high quality subsidized health services to lower income residents.
I represent District 5, which encompasses the County’s western and northern flanks, including Cupertino, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Los Gatos, Monte Sereno, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Saratoga, Stanford, and portions of San Jose.
The number of County health clinics in my district? None. And that’s been the case for the County’s entire 172-year history.
That’s not right.
When folks have to travel farther for services, their needs are less likely to get met. They wait too long, end up seriously ill, and then find themselves in the emergency room. It’s essential that all our residents have access to primary and preventative health care.
As Chair of the County’s Health and Hospital Committee, I see the impact of having conveniently located medical care. It takes some of the stress and worry out of visiting a doctor. It allows people to focus on their health, family, work, and school. There’s also the bottom line to consider when the County is the safety net. Simply put, helping folks before their health condition turns into an emergency or a disability costs less.
My initial proposal to explore development of a primary care clinic in my district started to bear fruit in October 2022, with the Board of Supervisors’ unanimous approval of a long-term lease for a facility located on the Palo Alto-Mountain View border, scheduled to open later this year.
Simultaneously, I’ve asked our County staff to focus to the West Valley. When Foothill-De Anza Community College District (FDACCD) Board President Patrick Ahrens mentioned the idea of locating a County health clinic on the District’s campus in Cupertino, I thought right away: it’s a win-win.
Students – many of whom are under or un-insured – would get access to a full array of health services (there’s no doctor currently practicing on the District campuses). The general public in need in the West Valley would also have affordable care closer to where they live or work.
While many residents of Campbell, Cupertino, Los Gatos, Monte Sereno, and Saratoga have access to quality health care through established providers, there are almost 90,000 people in these communities who earn less than 400% of the federal poverty level. That’s $111,000 annually for a family of four – which may be too much to qualify for Medi-Cal, but also not enough to cover adequate care in a high-cost area like ours.
Further, there are more than 43,000 West Valley residents who receive health care coverage through Medi-Cal, and more than 40,000 people who receive other public assistance who could benefit from having a County clinic at De Anza.
As far as we know, this would be the first county-community college district health clinic partnership in the state. It’s not an easy task. The County could ask, “Why are we providing health care for students?” The District could counter, “We’re not in the health care business.”
The better approach is one of mutual benefit: this is good for the public. FDACCD has chance to support the entire community, including students. The County has the opportunity to get a health clinic in an area that is absolutely unserved. It’s worth the effort.
I’m gratified that the FDACCD Board agreed, unanimously and enthusiastically approving a Letter of Interest in November 2022 to explore the construction of a County operated medical office building on the De Anza College campus.
This coming year, we’ll be working together on feasibility planning for a facility that would provide primary care, mental health, imaging, laboratory, and pharmacy services. To support FDACCD’s health care profession programs and curriculum, the County and District will also develop education/internship programs within the clinic.
A clinic partnership with De Anza is a smart choice – providing essential services for folks in the immediate area and throughout the County, as well as local students and learning opportunities for our future medical professionals.
As FDACCD Board President Ahrens put it, applauding this ‘first-in-the-state’ partnership: “Providing critical access and affordable medical care on our De Anza College campus will have exponential potential to serve our community for years to come.”
Joe Simitian
Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors
This article was originally published in Los Gatos Living in January 2023.