St. Jude Proposing Community Health Clinic At Ponderosa Park

UPDATE: The City Council voted 5-0 to approve the proposal.

The Anaheim City Council tonight will consider a proposal to lease a portion of Ponderoa Park for a $1 a year to St. Jude Neighborhood Health Centers, which would build a 5,000 square-foot community health clinic.

The clinic would be sited on a part of Ponderosa Park – on Orangewood Avenue and across Mountain View from the new family resource center – that is not being used as park space.

If approved, the clinic would be completed by the end of 2020 and provide health services for low-income, uninsured and underinsured Anaheim residents. Ponderosa Park is in District 4.

The clinic would be open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday and will see an estimated 65 patients a day. It will be staffed by a physician, a nurse practitioner, a licensed clinical social worker, two dentists, a registered nurse and a once-a-month podiatrist.

Types of treatments provided will include:

• Preventive health care services (immunizations, well child checks, pregnancy tests, mammogram referrals, colorectal cancer screening, blood glucose checks, etc)
• Dental care services for adults and children, including annual check-ups and dental restorative care like fillings, extractions and root canals).
• Sick visits for adults and children
• General family practie medicine
• Prenatal care
• Nurse visits
• Mental health screenings and counseling.

The lease would be for 20-years, with the option to one 10-year and two 5-year extensions. The clinic building would become city property when the lease runs out.

The city recently completed a multi-million rehabilitation of the 9.1 acre community park. A new Family Resource Center and gymnasium replaced an outdated facility in 2017. By summer of 2018, a new softball field with a soccer overlay, skate park, splash pad, play area, picnic shelter and community garden were also added.