Santa Cruz Mountains residents who want to see Sutter Health’s urgent care location in Scotts Valley remain open now have their federal representative actively on their side. Congresswoman Anna G. Eshoo on June 25 wrote a letter demanding the health care giant reverse course on its decision to shift its Scotts Valley Drive location from an urgent care facility to a primary and pediatric care center.
Eshoo, whose 18th Congressional District represents the northern reaches of Santa Cruz County, Los Gatos and swaths of the Silicon Valley, said she was not notified of the decision.
“I learned about this decision from my constituents, not Sutter Health,” Eshoo wrote to Sarah Krevans, the company’s president and CEO. “My office followed up with your staff to ask about this change and was informed you would be closing the only urgent care department in this part of Santa Cruz County in order to expand your primary and pediatric care departments.”
When contacted by the Press Banner, a Sutter Health spokesperson said the company plans to make the transition on Aug. 30, and that it will continue to provide “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 six miles from the Scotts Valley Center,” the spokesperson said.
The move will allow the company to add on to the six employees practicing in Scotts Valley while expanding primary and pediatric care, according to the spokesperson.
But Eshoo said the move will create yet another hardship for hundreds of families that are still dealing with the ramifications of the CZU Lightning Complex fire that ravaged nearly 1,000 homes in the area served by the facility.
“Many of my constituents in this special community are seniors and disabled, and many don’t own cars,” she wrote. “While it might not seem very far away, it is an hour or more by car if you consider the congested beach traffic through this area and the current state of public transit impacted by the CZU Fire.”
Eshoo included senators Dianne Feinstein and Alex Padilla, State Senator John Laird, Assemblyman Mark Stone, Santa Cruz County Supervisor Bruce McPherson and the entire Scotts Valley City Council in the letter.
“On behalf of my constituents, I’m asking you to reexamine this decision and find a way forward to retain urgent care access in this part of Santa Cruz County,” she wrote.
