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Photograph by Skye Dunlap
Eleven-year-old Cynthia Jimenez receives an examination from physician's assistant Debbie Smith at the Columbia Neighborhood Center.
Health center to see more patients
By Michelle Alaimo
Columbia Neighborhood Center, at the Columbia Middle School in North Sunnyvale, has extended its health care hours and services, thanks to a new contract with the Santa Clara Valley Health and Hospital System. Until now, owing to its contract with Mayview Community Health Center in Mountain View, the center was limited to providing 16 hours a week of service, and to accepting only patients who had insurance, according to CNC site manager Rocio Abundis-Rodriguez. "Now with the county as a provider, we are offering a much more comprehensive approach to health care," Abundis-Rodriguez says. Dan Rich, Assistant to the City Manager, says "it's more of an enhancement than a change." The new county contract, approved unanimously over the summer by the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, took effect on Nov. 8. Abundis-Rodriguez says that the search for a new provider began almost two years ago. "We realized early on that the relationship [with Mayfair] was unstable," Abundis-Rodriguez says. She adds that with Mayfair, CNC never knew how much funding it would have for the year, which made it hard to plan ahead. Now CNC staff workers can breathe a sigh of relief. The county's funding expands hours from 16 to 28 a week and provides $100,000 of year-round funds. Another big addition is an on-site eligibility worker who will help uninsured patients get connected with some kind of health care plan. Because CNC's previous provider only accepted those with the ability to pay, Abundis-Rodriguez says, the center often had to turn patients away to other facilities. She adds that this did not fit in with the center's goal of serving all residents, regardless of their ability to pay. Now, Abundis-Rodriguez says, CNC will be able to see a lot more patients. She estimates that prior to the change an average of 30 North Sunnyvale residents a week were seen in the clinic, which opened in September 1996. Abundis-Rodriguez says the clinic can handle nearly four times that amount. "The county model is four patients an hour for a potential of 112 patients a week," Abundis-Rodriguez says. Currently, CNC is open five days a week: Monday, Tuesday and Friday from 8:30 a.m. to noon and Wednesday and Thursday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Appointments are encouraged, but walk-ins are welcome. CNC has a county paid medical staff of three-a doctor, a nurse practitioner, and a licensed vocational nurse. Abundis-Rodriguez says the center is not an emergency room. Columbia Middle School students have an added benefit of the CNC being located on their campus. The school's health office is inside the same building, and sometimes an ill child can be referred to the CNC, Abundis-Rodriguez says. "If a kid is not feeling well, they can be seen by a nurse or doctor and be taken care of on the spot," Abundis-Rodriguez says. She adds that the center plans to open, sometime after the New Year, a teen health clinic for eight hours a week on weeknights. CNC is located at 785 Morse Avenue. For appointments, call 523-8150, ext. 13.
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Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
