Group touts its plans to create a children's clinic in town

Town says it has not project yet approved

Funding still needed

By Gloria I. Wang

In a strange twist, the faltering economy, especially as it relates to the high-tech industry, may benefit the children in Los Gatos and the surrounding area.

A local group has unveiled its ambitious plan to form a children's medical clinic with urgent care facilities and an outpatient surgery center in Los Gatos by the end of next year. The group, the South Bay Children's Medical Center Foundation, has also picked a site: the former headquarters of the Akamba Corporation--a high-tech company--at 15055 Los Gatos Blvd., between Lark Avenue and Highway 85.

There are, however, several hurdles to cross before the medical center can open its doors.

With an anticipated renovation start date of January 2002 and an option on the lease of the building, what the foundation needs to begin is money--$500,000, to be exact. According to foundation board member Vince Bradley, a consultant for nonprofit organizations, the group has received almost $200,000 to date. But the option on the lease expires in three or four months, which increases the group's urgency.

"If we had half a million dollars, could we get started tomorrow? Yes," Bradley said.

The second major hurdle is the town. According to board president Richard Fox, the 21,000-square-foot office building only requires some renovation and remodeling for it to become a medical clinic. "The amount of construction is not extensive," Fox said. The major improvements are to the plumbing, to allow for sinks in every examination room and more bathrooms in the facility.

Fox, a Los Gatos resident and pediatric breathing specialist, says he was told that no zoning change was necessary. He also says he had received expressions of support from town council members in the past. "I think we can carry forward with this outpatient center without any significant planning or zoning issues," Fox said. "I don't see any other major obstacles at this point."

Los Gatos Director of Community Development Bud Lortz, however, says that may not be true.

"We just heard about this recently, and we're reviewing what processes might be appropriate for this type of use," Lortz said. The town had obtained a copy of the flier advertising the Nov. 14 and 15 open house of the Akamba site, at which local physicians and members of the public were given a tour of the prospective site and shown how it would be converted for use as a medical clinic.

Besides the flier, Lortz says the town has not received any additional information about the project and was never contacted by any of the board members. "At this juncture, we really don't have the information to make any conclusions," Lortz said.

Lortz said that parking requirements differ between a medical building and an office building. Transforming the Akamba site into a clinic could require more parking spaces.

Fox stressed that the project was a medical center and not a hospital. But Lortz countered, saying it was up to the town council to decide what constitutes a hospital. The council is responsible for interpreting town building code; if there is no definition of a hospital in the code, the town will look at the dictionary definition.

At the very least, Lortz says, the foundation will have to come before the town to obtain an occupancy permit.

The idea of having a children's medical clinic and hospital has long been on the agenda of the Los Gatos Town Council. In 1999 and 2000, the council held a series of meetings focusing on the Silicon Valley Children's Hospital Foundation. That group had planned to build a freestanding medical center and then eventually form a more extensive children's hospital. Along with the proposal, then-Mayor Steve Blanton formed a children's hospital task force, headed by Fox.

At the meetings, the project garnered support from both the town and members of the public. Parents and physicians from as far away as Hollister told the council that a children's hospital was desperately needed in the area.

Until this spring, Fox had been heavily involved in the Silicon Valley Children's Hospital Foundation. That all changed, however, when its board decided to drop the medical center phase and focus on creating a "hospital within a hospital"--a children's hospital inside an existing facility, Fox says.

Several of those involved disagreed and formed the South Bay Children's Medical Center Foundation. "There were a number of us who said, 'OK, you can go ahead and do a hospital,'" Fox said. "The view of those of us working on this plan is that a children's hospital within a hospital wouldn't really be a children's hospital." Being affiliated with an existing facility would potentially cause some tension between physicians and an inability to serve all the children in the area, Fox says.

Those who left to serve on the new board include local pediatrician Jane W. Chen, entrepreneur Henry Boisvert, architect Anthony Cuschieri and treasurer Sharon Childress.

The group focused on building its facility near the intersection of Highways 85 and 17, eyeing a piece of land owned by developer Barry Swenson. But that all changed when Akamba Corporation folded and vacated its Los Gatos Boulevard premises earlier this year.

"We shifted our attention because we realized that with a little remodeling, we could have it ready to go for our purposes," Fox said. "That Akamba facility is just perfect."

According to Vince Bradley, building phases 1 and 2--the medical clinic and outpatient surgery--require 5,000 square feet. The medical clinic will have an urgent care facility open on nights and weekends. Offices inside the building will be leased out to various children's specialists, some of whom have already expressed an interest in reserving a space.

Fox says consolidating the specialists under one roof has many advantages. Currently the physicians are scattered all over the Bay Area, and for them to relocate to the same place makes it easier for families to find the right treatment for their children. In addition, some children have ailments that require the assistance of different types of specialists. With a children's medical clinic, they could make one stop for all their needs. Lastly, the doctors would be able to offer support and help to each other.

A flier published by the South Bay Children's Medical Center Foundation lists several reasons why a children's clinic is necessary in the South Bay. For instance, children are often treated by specialists who are trained to treat adults and do not have the experience or facilities to care for children. Also, the existing children's hospitals in the Bay Area are in Palo Alto, San Francisco and Oakland--too far away from the Los Gatos area.

Anticipated startup costs total $2 million, which comprise tenant improvements, administrative costs, rent and operating budgets. Bradley says the project will only break even during its third year of operation.

"Once this is successful ... we can take the profits and open up another one elsewhere," Bradley said. "Everything hinges on getting the first urgent care center in this area up and running."

Bradley says the fundraising strategy so far is "face-to-face interaction." The money that has been collected has come mostly from board members, but the South Bay Children's Medical Center Foundation hopes to request funds from other sources. Once the project actually begins, the foundation will hold fundraising events and give donor recognition--such as naming facilities after a sponsor--to those who contribute the most money.

"We think the thing is going to support itself when it gets going," Fox said. "I think the value of it will become quickly evident to the community."

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