Valley Children’s Healthcare is on a land-buying spree.
The Madera County-based pediatric health system has bought 4.4 acres at Herndon Avenue and First Street in Fresno for a 50,000-60,000-square-foot specialty clinic, hospital spokeswoman Zara Arboleda said Tuesday.
The Fresno clinic, which could open within three years, will include laboratory and imaging services and office space.
In Visalia, a 6.25-acre site at Highway 99 and Caldwell Avenue will be an outpatient specialty center to serve children in Tulare County. Valley Children’s is in escrow for the property.
Valley Children’s Healthcare, which operates Valley Children’s Hospital, will continue to provide hospital doctor coverage at Kaweah Delta Medical Center in Visalia, Arboleda said. And children needing the highest level of care will go to Valley Children’s Hospital in Madera County.
“Our primary focus for the last five years has been on ensuring the kids and families we serve have access to health care as close to home as possible,” said Todd Suntrapak, president and CEO. “Across our 12-county service area, we are developing primary and specialty services to meet our goal of being within 30 minutes of families needing access to pediatric services. Tulare County has been a key region in our expansion plans, and this new location will make that goal of increased access for kids a reality.”
And there are other Valley Children’s projects either proposed or in development:
- A pediatric primary-care office at Herndon and Temperance avenues in Clovis should open this summer.
- A clinic at Merced Avenue and Highway 99 in Fowler, a joint-partnership with Adventist Health, should open late next year.
- A regional clinic is set to open in Bakersfield in October. A specialty center in Modesto is scheduled to open early next year.
- And the health system is on the hunt for a site in Merced to expand a sub-specialty care center there.
Last year, Valley Children’s cared for more than 149,000 patients from San Joaquin Valley counties.