It’s Bigger, More Beautiful--Clinic in Venice to Celebrate

It now has triple the space, a full lab and pharmacy, a meeting room and a mauve-and-blue paint job. And the expansion of the Venice Family Clinic, its staffers hope, means it can serve more patients more comfortably, more efficiently and with more dignity.

The revamping of the nonprofit clinic at 604 Rose Ave. is to be celebrated at 3 p.m. today. Those expected to attend include actor Richard Chamberlain, U.S. Rep. Mel Levine (D-Santa Monica), state Sen. Herschel Rosenthal (D-Los Angeles), Assemblyman Tom Hayden (D-Santa Monica) and Los Angeles City Councilwoman Ruth Galanter.

The $3-million overhaul, started in 1988, includes a new, split-level building for patient care, which opened this spring, and a remodeling of the old, cramped quarters for offices, which was finished last week.

Now, the clinic boasts an airy and sleek 17,000 square feet. The working poor, the homeless and the uninsured can be treated in 18 exam rooms, compared to only eight before. Also, the clinic can do its own blood tests instead of sending the samples to hospitals and waiting several days for the results, an improvement that can make a big difference in trying to treat patients who are transients, clinic staffers say.

Prenatal nutrition classes started last month in the spacious community meeting room. In the future, the room is to be used for Lamaze courses and support group sessions for diabetics.

Staff members say the clinic is more organized and more attractive. “There’s a flow to it--the things are in the same place in an exam room, so a doctor will not have to find things in some kind of cranny,” executive director Fern Seizer said.

It is inviting to patients as well, Seizer said, noting the greenery, the skylights and the children’s play area that are part of the clinic’s new look. “It respects the dignity of everybody to have a nice place.”

Two doctors established the clinic 20 years ago, figuring it would be merely “a stopgap measure” to serve people with no other access to health care, Seizer said.

That population has mushroomed. In 1985, the clinic handled nearly 12,000 patient visits. Last year, patient visits totaled 30,000, and 6,000 people were turned away “because we just couldn’t squeeze another body in,” Seizer said.

With the larger facilities, the clinic will be able to fit in 45,000 patient visits a year, but still expects to have to turn away thousands of people. Given the cutbacks in government medical and mental health programs and the worsening economy, “the need for the clinic has never been greater,” said Michael Goldberg, president of the clinic’s board of directors.

The clinic provides eye, gynecological, pediatric, dermatological and orthopedic care and is “like a family doctor for the community,” Seizer said. It operates with a staff of about 60 and a stable of 1,300 volunteers, who include medical students, stockbrokers, nurse practitioners and actors. The volunteers have a range of duties, such as taking patient histories, testing blood pressure, performing other basic health exams and fund-raising.

About 300 doctors donate their time, either at the clinic or seeing patients referred by it in their own offices. Santa Monica, St. John’s, Daniel Freeman Memorial and other hospitals offer free services for clinic patients, and UCLA Medical School provides it with malpractice coverage, Seizer said.

Most of the clinic’s patients live on the Westside and hold jobs, Seizer said. But most earn incomes below the federal poverty level--$12,500 a year for a family of four--and have no insurance. About 35 homeless people are examined every day.

Of the clinic’s $3-million annual budget, about $90,000 comes from patient contributions--an average of $3 from patients per visit. About 80% of the funding is from individual and corporate donors, with the rest from government sources.

The expansion and renovation, Seizer said, was a community effort. The architectural and interior designing and the new landscaping were donated. The largest check, $400,000, came from the Foundations of the Milken Families, led by Lowell Milken, brother of former junk bond financier Michael Milken.

At today’s ceremonies, the medical facility will be named after the Milken foundations. The administration wing will be named after longtime supporters Irma and Lou Colen of Cheviot Hills. Irma Colen conceived of the Venice Art Walk, the clinic’s annual gala fund-raiser, and Lou Colen, who is in the real estate business, helped oversee the clinic expansion.