UC San Diego Health Expands North for Primary Care Options

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You have a sore throat during off-hours. Your newborn has a rash. Your teenager needs a sports physical for summer camp. Today, UC San Diego Health opened a new comprehensive health center at 1505 Encinitas Boulevard to address all of these scenarios and more.

Described as a “one-stop shop,” the new facility will offer patients increased access to a team of top doctors and nurses, including pediatricians, family medicine specialists to care for everyone from infants to grandparents, Express Care for common health issues like sore throats and ear infections and a variety of convenient services, such as the Save My Spot option, which allows patients to check wait times and reserve their spot in line at home or wherever is most convenient for them before coming to the clinic.

“From the working parent to the caregiver, we all lead busy lives. UC San Diego Health is dedicated to caring for our community and meeting our patients where they are instead of asking them to travel a long distance for exceptional care,” said Patty Maysent, CEO of UC San Diego Health. “Health issues don’t take personal schedules and plans into consideration. The opening of the Encinitas location is part of our goal to bring new and convenient primary care options to multiple neighborhood locations across San Diego.”

UC San Diego Health is scheduled to open additional express and primary care sites over the next four years. New locations will be offered throughout the community along public transportation lines.

“Primary care is the start of a patient’s health journey and offers prevention measures and management of chronic to complex conditions, as well as being the bridge to specialty care,” said Christopher Kane, MD, CEO, UC San Diego Health Physician Group. “Your family doctor's office can become your medical home, where all aspects of care can be coordinated in a warm, welcoming and familiar environment.”  

UC San Diego Health – Encinitas is designed around the needs of the patient with same day appointments and integrated services, such as pediatrics, primary care and Express Care.

Express Care is a walk-in option open 12 hours a day, seven days a week. It is staffed by board-certified nurse practitioners to address common health needs, including coughs, colds and simple fractures or sprains, as well as wellness visits for camp or school health screenings.

Pediatrics offers compassionate care for infants, children and teenagers through all of their developmental stages. “As a parent myself, I have insight into some of the issues that parents go through,” said Robert Coles, MD, pediatrician at UC San Diego Health. “A new patient to my practice can expect to collaborate with me on the health of their child. I want parents to be involved, to ask questions and for us to walk through the process together.”

Other features of the Encinitas location include state-of-the-art design elements that allow patients to be more involved with their care. Forty-inch monitors in patient rooms give patients the opportunity to see their electronic medical record and notes as their physician types them.

“This technique fosters patient engagement and a stronger patient-doctor relationship by emphasizing communication and shared decision-making,” said Kane. “Having the patient play an active role in the exam room also helps to clarify information if needed and spark important questions he or she may have.”

From left to right: Christopher Kane, MD, CEO, UC San Diego Health Physician Group, Assemblymember Tasha Boerner Horvath and Kevin Schwerdtfeger, regional practice manager, celebrate the opening of the UC San Diego Health-Encinitas clinic with team members.

Whether patients see providers in Encinitas, or at any of UC San Diego Health’s clinics or hospitals, all care is managed through one medical record to assure highly-coordinated, safe care. With the MyUCSDHealth mobile application, patients have the ability to manage their health information, communicate with their physicians and find helpful resources, such as directions and parking information.

UC San Diego Health is unique among local health care providers in that it is a nationally-recognized academic medical center. These specialized health systems offer multidisciplinary teams of experts who have access to medical and surgical resources not offered in other settings or networks. Many of the doctors at UC San Diego Health are also researchers at UC San Diego School of Medicine and Moores Cancer Center, where they are developing the newest diagnostic criteria, therapies and treatments for the most challenging patient conditions.

UC San Diego Health, the region’s only academic health system, is dedicated to delivering outstanding patient care through commitment to community, groundbreaking research and inspired teaching. Its specialty care for serious and complex conditions is consistently ranked among the nation’s best by U.S. News & World Report and other organizations.

The 808-bed academic health system includes UC San Diego Medical Center in Hillcrest and Jacobs Medical Center, Sulpizio Cardiovascular Center, Moores Cancer Center, Shiley Eye Institute, Koman Family Outpatient Pavilion and Altman Clinical and Translational Research Institute, all in La Jolla.

To learn more about UC San Diego Health and its locations across the region, visit health.ucsd.edu.