ENCINITAS – The Encinitas Health Center at 629 2nd St. will cease offering medical services effective April 30, according to North County Health Services CEO Irma Cota.
The Encinitas Health Center will merge with the Encinitas Women’s and Children’s Health Center at 1130 2nd St.The adult medical/clinical services given at the Encinitas Health Center will now be offered at the Encinitas Women’s and Children’s Health Center, which will continue to offer its existing services.
The merging of the two sites is the result of cost-cutting measures and from looking at where patients using the clinic are coming from.
“We have clinics in Carlsbad as well as Oceanside and San Marcos,” Cota said. “And when we looked at the map, where all of the patients who come to Encinitas, we’ve identified that many of those Encinitas patients…any of those who we see in Encinitas, can be seen in one of our other locations. So we will be transferring care.”
Cota said all patients are being advised to the changes and that all health insurances have been advised.
“It’s a cost-cutting measure,” Cota added. “But at the same time we want to be as efficient as possible in our business…Our analysis resulted in the need for us to merge those two sites,” she said.
The merging of the sites will also result in a staff reduction. “Because we are reducing, we’re going to use existing staff at other sites, so in that sense we will be giving notices to staff,” Cota said.
Cota believes the merging of the two sites will have a minimum effect on patients, who, with the changes, will be able to receive care closer to home. “The determination as to where they go will be determined by a physician,” she said.
North County Health Services is a private, nonprofit 501 (c) (3) corporation and operates several clinics around North County, including Ramona, Oceanside, Carlsbad and San Marcos. NCHS does not operate free clinics; it began in 1971 to help treat low-income patients.
