SF General hospital shifts adult urgent care center to new building

Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital has moved its Adult Urgent Care Center into Building 5 in an effort to centralize the hospital’s care services under one roof.

Mayor London Breed joined hospital and city officials for the ribbon cutting of the new location of the Adult Urgent Care Center on Tuesday.

The $1.8 million project to update the Adult Urgent Care Center features a total of 12 patient rooms, which is three more rooms than the center had previously when the center was housed in Building 80.

Ching Wong/SFBay A new patient room seen at the Adult Urgent Care Center at Zuckerberg SF General Hospital in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, February 12, 2019.

Breed said:

“As our population continues grow, it’s more important now more than ever to make sure our public health facilities are now up-to-date in the latest technology and programming.”

Breed added better coordination with hospital services and staff is important to provide care patients:

“When we coordinate, when we centralize services, we get better outcomes for the people that we’re here to serve.”

Ching Wong/SFBay Roland Pickens, right, director of SF Health Network, during the opening of the Adult Urgent Care Center at Zuckerberg SF General Hospital in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, February 12, 2019.

Roland Pickens, director of the San Francisco Health Network, said the Adult Urgent Care Center provides a vital role for patients who may not be able to get an appointment in their neighborhood health center:

“When you can’t get into your primary care appointment, this is a place you can come to for service.”

The Adult Urgent Care Center has been serving patients since 1999 and has moved around from building to building, said Dr. Ronald Labuguen, the medical director of the Adult Urgent Care Center.

More than 20,000 patients visited the center in 2018, according to the hospital. Approximately 18,000 patients were drop-ins, primary care centers or from emergency departments referred 2,300 patients, 652 patients had follow-up visits, and 217 were nurse visits.

New patient rooms are seen at the Adult Urgent Care Center at Zuckerberg SF General Hospital in San Francisco, Calif., on Tuesday, February 12, 2019.
Ching Wong/SFBay

Labuguen said the center provides health services, both for adults with non-emergency needs and for patients who may have a primary care physician:

“We provide urgent medical care for our primary care patients in the San Francisco health network and we care for other San Franciscans who don’t have primary care, don’t have insurance, and don’t have access to urgent care anymore else.”

The project to move the center was partially funded by the 2016 voter-approved Public Health and Safety bond measure and The City’s capital budget.

The new center will officially open on Feb. 21 to the public.

Last modified February 13, 2019 8:25 am

Jerold Chinn

Jerold serves as a reporter and San Francisco Bureau Chief for SFBay covering transportation and occasionally City Hall and the Mayor's Office in San Francisco. His work on transportation has been recognized by the San Francisco Press Club. Born and raised in San Francisco, he graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree in journalism. Jerold previously wrote for the San Francisco Public Press, a nonprofit, noncommercial news organization. When not reporting, you can find Jerold taking Muni to check out new places to eat in the city.

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