PALO ALTO, Calif-- Children in the South Bay suffering from asthma, acne, abdominal pain and many other conditions can now receive specialty care from Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital physicians without traveling to Palo Alto. The hospital’s new South Bay Specialty Center in Los Gatos houses 13 sub-specialties in a new, child-friendly building with all the hallmarks of its parent institution.

“We’re very excited,” said Gary Hartman, MD, Packard Children’s chief of regional pediatric services. “Travel is a huge issue for many families in the South Bay. We can say ‘It’s just 20 miles to Packard Children’s,’ but that distance can be out of reach for parents without a car.” The addition of a second site for many of the hospital’s specialty clinics is also expected to reduce wait times for appointments and increase patient capacity.

This is not the first time Packard sub-specialty services have been offered in the South Bay. The hospital’s Bascom Avenue clinic, which has been replaced by the new Center, provided urology, pulmonary medicine, and endocrinology/diabetes services, as well as general surgery consultations to children in San Jose and the surrounding areas.

“We are responding to the express wishes of the community and our referring physicians with these southward moves,” said Hartman. “They want a full-range of sub-specialties available to these children.”

The South Bay Specialty Center, located at 14777 Los Gatos Boulevard near Highway 85, includes those sub-specialties formerly offered at the Bascom Avenue clinic as well as allergy, audiology, dermatology, gastroenterology, neurology, nutrition counseling, ophthalmology, otolaryngology, plastic surgery consultations, and rheumatology. The Center’s new building is located very near the old Bascom Avenue clinic.

“Geographically, we haven’t moved far,” said Hartman, “but this is a huge leap forward in terms of the types of services we offer.”

The building occupied by the Center was designed with waiting areas stocked with activities for children, exam rooms with toys and small, kid-sized chairs, and bright and cheerful colors. Many families may find the environment less-hectic than that of the main hospital.

“We’ve brought the Packard experience to the South Bay’s backyard,” said Hartman, “with what will likely be a slightly more casual and intimate atmosphere. We’re testing a lot of different ways to make the clinic very user-friendly, and we really want input from physicians and patients about what works and doesn’t work for them.”

The Center’s first patients began arriving on October 1st. Endocrinology/diabetes and pediatric surgery were the first services to open, followed by ophthalmology on the 2nd. Other services will open throughout October and November until the Center is fully operational. It can’t happen too soon for some parents.

“The other day a mother who used to take her child to Palo Alto for ophthalmology appointments at Packard Children’s saw our sign and stopped by to see if she could now come to the Center instead,” said Hartman. “When we told her yes, she got a big smile on her face.”

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