San Diego’s Scripps Health is getting into the retail clinic business.
But the healthcare giant’s first retail health clinic isn’t in a supermarket or a drug store. It’s in an office complex across from the UTC shopping plaza.
About 2,500 people work in the complex.
The clinic is a partnership between Scripps and the operator of the complex, the Irvine Company. Scripps CEO Chris Van Gorder said the clinic will make it a lot easier for people to get care.
"So now they don't have to schedule time off of work, and schedule an appointment, and have to get in their car and leave," he said. "They'll just be able to go down in the elevator and see the provider, and go back to work."
Van Gorder said the clinic is not intended to replace regular doctors or hospital emergency rooms.
He says it’s designed to treat minor conditions like sore throats and coughs, and provide vaccinations and physical exams.
The clinic will be staffed by a nurse practitioner and a physician assistant.