Supervisors Weigh Opening New Clinic to Serve the Poor : Thousand Oaks: Board will vote on creating a family care center for Medi-Cal and uninsured patients.

Thousand Oaks could get a new medical clinic to serve low-income residents under a proposal being considered by the Ventura County Board of Supervisors.

The proposal calls for the county to convert a vacant building on Thousand Oaks Boulevard into a clinic that would provide outpatient services to Medi-Cal and uninsured patients, officials said. Medi-Cal insurance is provided by the state to low-income residents.

Because few Thousand Oaks’ physicians accept Medi-Cal patients, residents currently must travel to a clinic in Simi Valley or even as far as the Ventura County Medical Center in Ventura for outpatient care, officials said. The clinic, they said, would be especially beneficial to pregnant women on Medi-Cal seeking prenatal care.

“I think this is a wonderful idea,” said Thousand Oaks’ Mayor Elois Zeanah. “I’m always pleased when county services are offered closer to home.”

The city’s social services center on Hillcrest Drive is located within walking distance from the proposed clinic, Zeanah said, “so people who need care will only have one place to go.”

The board is scheduled to vote on the proposed clinic, tentatively called the Conejo Valley Family Care Center, at its meeting Tuesday.

Supervisors Maria E. VanderKolk, whose district includes much of the Conejo Valley, and Vicky Howard have lobbied hard for the satellite clinic, saying there is great demand for medical services for low-income residents of the Conejo Valley.

Neither supervisor could be reached for comment. But Doug Johnson, VanderKolk’s administrative assistant, said that the clinic will be a welcome convenience for many.

“People always think of Thousand Oaks as being affluent and not in need, but it has a large senior population, people living on fixed incomes,” he said. “There are also homeless people, and families in need of help.”

In January, supervisors approved a $528,000 plan to expand a similar clinic in Simi Valley because of a dramatic increase in the number of east county Medi-Cal recipients visiting the facility. The clinic was moved to a site twice as big as its previous facility and lengthened its operating hours as well as increasing the size of its staff.

Still, Thousand Oaks officials said their city of more than 100,000 needs its own clinic.

“There is tremendous need,” said Councilwoman Jaime Zukowski. “I have personally talked to people who travel to Ventura for medical care. Some of them have to use public transportation. So it will be a tremendous benefit.”

If approved, the clinic would be located in a now-vacant, 5,000-square-foot building at 223 E. Thousand Oaks Boulevard. The former bank building would be leased by the county for five years at about $95,000 per year. The county would have the option to extend the lease for an additional five years.

“It’s a perfect location,” Johnson said. “There’s a senior (housing) building nearby, so people can walk to it.”

The first-year operating cost of the clinic is estimated at $238,700 and is expected to increase to more than $700,000 the following year. Officials said state and federal aid programs for the needy would more than offset the clinic’s operating costs.

If approved, the Conejo Valley Family Care Center would be the sixth satellite clinic operated in the county. Other cities with clinics include Oxnard, Ventura and Santa Paula.