By Wendy Sigmund
The San Lorenzo Valley is losing its closest access to urgent care as the Scotts Valley Urgent care prepares to transition its facility to pediatric care, open to appointment only, while reopening Westside Urgent Care to meet the needs of the valley. This causes great concern for many valley residents as well as many community groups and stakeholders. A Sutter Health representative responded to Bulletin inquiries by saying, “As part of our commitment to providing safe, personal, affordable care, we regularly assess our service offerings to better steward our resources and meet the changing needs of our patient population. On Aug. 30, 2021, Scotts Valley Urgent Care will transition to providing primary and pediatric care by appointment only and the Westside Urgent Care will reopen.”  She went on to say, “We will continue to meet patient demand for time-sensitive care at the Scotts Valley Center by offering same-day appointments, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. For night and weekend needs, patients and families have several nearby urgent and walk-in care options from which to choose, including the expanded services available at Westside Urgent Care, located just 6 miles from the Scotts Valley Center.” What Sutter Health fails to realize is that 6 miles can add an hour or more in traffic and even more time if a patient needs to use public transportation.  In response to the transition, Congresswoman Anna Eshoo wrote a letter to Sarah Krevans the President and CEO of Sutter Health in Sacramento urging the health care giant to re-think the transition and consider the impact on valley residents who are still recovering from the CZU Lightning Complex fire as well as the economic issues caused by the COVID pandemic.   Valley residents are urged to weigh in on this important issue by contacting the following stakeholders.  Voice your opinion to the following contact information:
Thank you for writing this column. I didn’t know this was happening. As a former resident of Boulder Creek for over 20 years, the Scott’s Valley Urgent Care was very important to my family. As we consider moving back or rebuilding in SLV, having an urgent care facility in Scott’s Valley is the closest we would get, and not having it may have an impact on our decisions since the loss of our home from the fire. This is more sad news.