California City Puts Fire Station, Medical Center Together

Nov. 14--The idea for building a health clinic on the same grounds as a fire station came to Hayward Fire Chief Garrett Contreras in the midst of the 2009 swine flu epidemic, when the stations were called to act as makeshift vaccination clinics.

Crowds showed up. Residents said they felt safe going to the firehouses for care. Responding to that trust, Hayward has become the first city in the state, and possibly the nation, to build a medical center and a fire station on the same grounds.

Firehouse Clinic debuted Friday on the site of the newly reconstructed Fire Station No. 7 in South Hayward.

The goal, say city officials, is to reduce overcrowding in hospital emergency rooms and provide care in an area of Hayward that's been lacking adult health services.

Contreras said firefighters are trained as first responders in an emergency. "We do the blood and guts really well," he said, "but when we have a patient that doesn't have those significant issues we treat them the same way -- we send them to the emergency room.

"There's a better way to do it. There's a better, more cost effective way to help make this a more healthy, vibrant community."

An increase in people getting access to health coverage under the federal Affordable Care Act has increased the strain on primary care services in cities and counties. If people can't find a doctor, they typically go straight to hospital emergency departments or delay care until they end up there. It's the most expensive way for people to get care, considering many of them could have been treated at much lower cost in a clinic.

'Really exciting'

"Trying to make optimal use of trained health professionals is really one of the keys to successful Affordable Care Act implementation," said Sandra Shewry, vice president of external engagement for the California HealthCare Foundation, which provided seed money to test the Firehouse Clinic concept. "Across the state you see local governments trying to maximize the use of skilled paramedics. What you see in Alameda County ... is really exciting."

The Firehouse Clinic won't be open to the public for at least another week, but once it does open it will be staffed by clinicians from Tiburcio Vasquez Health Center, which runs six community and school clinics in Hayward, Union City and San Leandro.

Virtually all the firefighters in the station next door to the clinic at 28300 Huntwood Ave. are paramedics who can provide lifesaving care for stroke and heart attack victims or other emergency situations, but their job is not to provide medical care beyond that. They will not be working in the clinic.

Originally, the project's leaders planned to put a 1,000-square-foot clinic adjacent to the firehouse that was limited to providing basic services. But then they chose to build one more than twice that size that will be full service and offer extended hours.

The clinic's hours will be limited at first, but then be extended to 12 hours every weekday, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., and eventually the building will be open on weekends. Clinic officials said patients will be seen the same day if necessary, but otherwise will wait no longer than 72 hours for an appointment.

The $2 million Firehouse Clinic was built on city land, with the county contributing $1.2 million in construction costs and the city paying the balance for such infrastructure expenses as technology.

How it's funded

The clinic's operating budget of $1.1 million a year will be supported by a voter-passed county health care initiative for the first two years, but then be self-sustaining through patient reimbursements. The clinic will take all forms of health coverage, including plans sold through the state's Covered California marketplace and Medi-Cal.

"Alameda County saw this as an unprecedented opportunity for collaboration," said Alex Briscoe, director of the Alameda County Health Care Services Agency, in a statement. "Through blended public funding and third-party billing, this is a scalable, sustainable model that we have experience with."

David Vliet, chief executive officer of Tiburcio Vasquez Health Center, was especially excited about working with the fire department so that people who routinely call 911 for medical problems that could be treated at a clinic can learn about the new center.

"We will be communicating with the folks at the fire department over clients in our vicinity who are frequent users," he said.

Victoria Colliver is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: vcolliver@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @vcolliver

Copyright 2015 - San Francisco Chronicle