VENTURA : Foundation Health to Build Center

One of California’s leading health care providers will set up shop in Ventura, ushering in a new era of increased competition for an already crowded medical market.

Foundation Health, a health-maintenance organization with more than 520,000 clients, has placed a contract on a 5.2-acre tract near the county Government Center and plans to build space for doctors’ offices, company officials confirmed Wednesday.

“It’s a whole new development for little Ventura, and we’re all scratching our head, wondering what it will mean,” said Edward Banman, a family practitioner who considered joining the HMO’s medical group. “We’ll all have pressure to associate or join with a group.”

The HMO recently signed a contract with Raznick Realty Group for the site adjacent to the Center Promenade office complex facing Telephone Road.

“We’re very pleased about this, because with the loss of business in Ventura in the last few years, this is a real plus,” said Aaron Raznick. The 45,000-square-foot building is expected to be completed in 18 to 24 months, Raznick said.

Foundation Health officials declined to discuss details of the project, because the property is still under contract.

Foundation Health, which has been negotiating with Ventura doctors to buy their practices, could also bring in new physicians to staff the center, Banman said.

As Foundation Health prepares to move into the Ventura market, another statewide health provider is trying to buy one of the community’s largest physician groups, Buenaventura Medical Clinic.

Clinic Administrator Tom Becker acknowledged that the clinic has had discussions with Mulliken Medical Centers, which manages large groups of doctors. But he added, “Whatever business transaction we would contemplate is not complete.”