LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Sutter Lakeside Hospital’s administration has decided to close two clinics as part of continued efforts to improve the hospital’s financial picture.
The hospital’s Upper Lake Community Health Clinic, a longtime fixture that’s located on the grounds of Upper Lake High School, is slated to be closed, along with the hospital’s clinic that offers chronic pain management, Chief Administrative Officer Siri Nelson told Lake County News Wednesday.
The Upper Lake clinic – which serves about 2,400 patients annually and has three full-time employees – loses more than $200,000 annually, Nelson said.
Nelson said Sutter Lakeside plans to move the clinic’s services to its Family Medical Center at the main hospital campus on Hill Road East outside of Lakeport.
The services will be offered at the Family Medical Center beginning May 31, with expanded hours and more providers to be added to accommodate the new patients previously served by the clinic in Upper Lake, Nelson said.
The goal is to transfer the Upper Lake clinic’s staff to the medical center, but that is still being worked out, said Nelson.
Sutter Lakeside is considering making its mobile health unit available in Upper Lake one day a week as an alternative for some patients. Nelson said the details of that proposal need to be worked out with the school district.
The pain clinic, staffed by Dr. Vernetta Johnson, also is being closed, with a targeted closure date of June 30, Nelson said. It serves approximately 650 patients annually.
Nelson reported that despite efforts to rework services there, the clinic continues to lose more than $1 million annually.
She said Sutter Lakeside is working with local doctors to find alternative treatment options for the patients who use the clinic’s services.
The other action announced this week is that the outpatient draw center is being moved from its current location on the campus to inside the hospital itself, which Nelson said is a more convenient location that should also help streamline the blood draw process. The draw station will be moved as of Monday, April 23.
The clinic closures announced this week are the latest measures taken by Sutter Lakeside to deal with reduced revenue and an increase in medical care to uninsured or underinsured patients.
Sutter Lakeside – part of the nonprofit Sutter Health network – last month announced that it would be laying off 10 percent of its staff. Nelson said the hospital has about 300 full-time positions.
A report Nelson issued to staff in March said Sutter Lakeside was on track to lose more than $10 million this year if the staff cuts weren’t made, as Lake County News has reported.
Nelson’s Wednesday progress report update said virtually all the employees slated for layoff have been notified, with the notifications expected to be completed this week.
She said she could not yet give a specific number about how many employees would be cut due to the need to work out the details with the unions that represent hospital staff.
“It’s a long and, unfortunately, laborious process,” she said.
Nelson said she doesn’t anticipate more cost cutting measures taking place soon.
“At this point we’re hoping that this will be enough to turn our financial situation around,” Nelson said.
Sutter Lakeside is continuing to work on other efficiencies, with the clinic closures part of the overall plan, she said. It’s hoped that the combination of actions will turn things around for the hospital.
“The big unknown, really, is the overall economy in Lake County and where that’s going to go,” Nelson said.
Over the past month community members have raised concerns that the hospital might close.
Nelson said there is no indication from Sutter Health that closing Sutter Lakeside is being considered, with that option “absolutely not on the radar at all.”
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