Camarena Health Starts Construction in Madera on Largest-Ever Expansion

Approximately 30,000 square feet of buildings are going up in Madera as part of Camarena Health’s largest expansion project ever.

The facilities, dubbed The Almond Campus because they’re on Almond Avenue, will cost nearly $17 million and transform the urgent-care facility there into a full-service, five-building campus.

Plans call for a 10,000 square-foot building and four 5,000 square-foot buildings with ample parking.

COVID-19 is not expected to delay getting everything completed by late spring or early summer of 2021, Camarena officials say.

One-Stop Healthcare Services

Services at the Almond campus will include family care, urgent care, women’s health, dentistry, behavioral health, and health education among many more.

“This is definitely the direction that I think healthcare is going,” Camarena Health CEO Paul Soares told GV Wire℠ by Zoom on Wednesday.

Soares is talking about integrated healthcare. His vision is that medical family practice, OBGYN, pediatrics, behavioral health, dental services, vision, and chiropractic health are provided at mostly the same site.

“All of our folks are talking to one another, we’re all working as a team to manage the health of that patient,” said Soares. He added that having Camerena Health as the provider for all of those services really helps to streamline the process for patients.

COVID-19 Changes

Though the pandemic hasn’t affected the construction schedule, the facility will have features related to lessons learned during the pandemic.

There will be more rooms available to potentially isolate high-risk patients, either from COVID-19 or something else.

And, waiting rooms will be constructed so that one side can isolate patients with symptoms from those coming in for checkups.

Telehealth

Telehealth has become part of normal life during the pandemic. Camarena Health wants to take it to the next level, with telemedicine and virtual visits playing a much larger role.

“We’re looking at hubs and carts to have in all these locations,” says Nichole Mosqueda, Camarena Health’s director of programs and development. “We are looking at movable carts that can move around and be a part of the care teams in different areas (of the facility).”

Madera Location

Camarena Health is a community-based healthcare provider serving families and communities in Madera, Chowchilla, and Oakhurst.

Madera County’s population is 161,208, and it is growing rapidly in the Highway 41 corridor north of Fresno. The county’s population today is nearly double what it was in 1990.

GV Wire℠ asked Soares why he chose Madera as the location for such a large expansion.

“That’s where a lot of our patients come from. That’s where we see a lot of the growth, a lot of the increasing demand for our services, and so it really just fits into our service area,” he said.