Robert Braithwaite, chief executive of Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, believes Orange County’s “deep south” has long been underserved when it comes to healthcare services.
Newport Beach-based Hoag aims to fill that void by bringing its services closer to South Orange County residents with the opening last month of Hoag Health Center San Clemente—a $20 million facility that ushers in a host of specialized care to the area, Braithwaite told the Business Journal.
“The deep South Orange County has been a healthcare desert with not many providers,” Braithwaite said. “So, the fact that we’re dropping in more than 20 physicians of different specialties into the community feels good.”
Within the 20,000-square-foot center are exam rooms for primary care, urgent care and women’s health.
The facility houses Hoag’s usual specialties including radiology, sports medicine and orthopedics, in addition to new offerings such as a paid preventative health and longevity program and a health lab that performs assessments.
There are currently 50 physicians and staff at the center.
Hoag Compass Coming Soon to San Clemente
The wellness programs are one of the most distinguishing features of the center, according to Braithwaite.
Brands such as Irvine-based Hyperice Inc. have partnered with Hoag on the wellness component with their sports recovery products being displayed within the center.
Hoag will soon launch a membership-based program called Hoag Compass in San Clemente.
“Think of primary care on steroids where we will go really deep with a population that wants to understand their health status at the genetic level,” Braithwaite said.
The program pairs together data and coaching to help people live longer, healthier lives, Hoag says.
Members gain access to blood tests to learn their predisposition for certain diseases and how to monitor and prevent them, as well as a custom care plan and dedicated care team.
Hoag Compass is already offered at Hoag Health Center Newport Beach, making San Clemente the second site to offer it. Its monthly membership costs $99, according to Hoag’s website.
Investing in New Technologies
Many medical offices in Orange County are created around a single specialty type, according to Braithwaite.
He said that Hoag Health Center San Clemente is a great example of collaboration and care coordination.
“We’ve organized the facility in a way that things that usually go together are adjacent to one another,” Braithwaite said.
Urgent care, for instance, is next to primary care while sports medicine is adjacent to orthopedics and spine and pain management.
Part of the center’s costs went toward acquiring new technologies for Hoag, including a CT scanner with a camera system that maps out the patient’s body and puts them in scanning position according to the camera.
“What is important is it allows us to scan the patient and get the best image quality but also the lowest radiation dose,” Director of Radiology Scott Norton said during a tour of the radiology and advanced imaging area of the center.
Norton said Hoag pushed to get the “Ferrari of MRIs,” or a 3 Tesla MRI, at the San Clemente center because of its machine learning capabilities, which cut scan times in half.
“There’s no need to go to Newport Beach or Irvine,” Norton said. “You can do everything here, all in half time.”
Free Fitness Classes for the Community
One of the center’s new offerings is free group fitness classes for the community.
“We just want to give something back to the community,” Alexander Riegle, an exercise physiologist at the center, told the Business Journal. “There’s such a great community here in San Clemente, and we want to educate and show the possibilities of starting a new health program.”
Hoag is making these classes available to the whole community, not just patients.
These classes are intended to benefit a wide variety of people, ranging from athletes to pregnant or postpartum women.
Current offerings include pilates, yoga and tai chi, according to Riegle. Schedules with available times are listed on Hoag’s website.
Some classes will take place outside on an adjacent, 3,000-square-foot patio that’s equipped with eight pilates reformer machines.
The classes are part of what’s called the Hoag Health Lab, which is focused on basic fitness and health assessments.
The lab offers free, one-time baseline evaluations centering on nutrition, exercise and sleep.
Possible Hoag Expansion at Ziggurat Up in the Air
Hoag’s San Clemente expansion is part of its ultimate goal of having a facility within 10 minutes of every household in Orange County.
Hoag currently has two acute care hospitals, 18 urgent care facilities and 13 health and wellness centers spread out across OC.
CEO Robert Braithwaite said Hoag is eyeing other cities such as Laguna Niguel and Mission Viejo for future expansion, noting that both are “great communities that need more healthcare services.”
They’ve even taken legal steps to secure land in the area.
Last October, Hoag was the losing bidder in a dramatic four-month long bidding war for the Chet Holifield Federal Building, also known as the Ziggurat facility in Laguna Niguel, the Business Journal exclusively reported in late March.
The property was originally sold to Jeff Pintar of San Juan Capistrano-based Pintar Investment Co. and Cameron Hildreth of Signal Hill-based Hilco Development Services for $177 million.
After losing the bid, Hoag filed a federal lawsuit alleging misconduct by Pintar during the bidding process.
Soon after, the government terminated its deal with Pintar and Hilco and awarded the 92-acre site to Hoag. About a month later, the General Services Administration canceled the sale, stating it intends to eventually relaunch the bidding process.
The agency has yet to set a date for a new auction.
“At this time no further action has been taken with regard to the sale of the Chet Holifield Federal Building,” a GSA spokesperson told the Business Journal.
Braithwaite told the Business Journal that they are still waiting for final clarification from the government about whether the building will be sold through another bidding process.
“I think what they wanted to do is a reset and make sure everything moved forward without any types of challenges,” he said. — Yuika Yoshida
