Children’s Clinic Is Also Open Evenings

The 17th Street medical clinic for children has been open only three months, but already it is expanding its hours.

When the business, operated by Anaheim-based Kids-Care Medical Group Inc., opened Aug. 1, clinic hours were 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays.

Under an agreement with Western Medical Center-Santa Ana, the clinic is now open from 5 to 9 on weeknights.

In a joint venture with Kids-Care, Western Medical operates the clinic after 5 on weeknights and on weekends from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Doctors at Kids-Care, founded five years ago, also are on staff at Western Medical.

With the late hours, clinic officials say they can now accommodate twice as many young patients, about 40, each weekday.

On a typical weekend shift, about 15 children are brought in, administrative director Pamela Pimentel said.

The children’s clinic, which provides nonemergency medical care, is meant to be an alternative to the hospital emergency room for after-hours care.

Officials said that if the clinic continues to grow as expected, it eventually will be open for nonemergency visits 24 hours a day.

Santa Ana’s demographics created a need for the for-profit clinic, officials said. The clinic near Bristol and 17th streets is within walking distance for many parents who do not have cars, Pimentel said.

All of the clinic’s medical assistants are also fluent in Spanish, she said.

The children’s clinic is adjacent to Western Medical’s women’s clinic, where 65% of the patients walk in, Pimentel said.