Photos by Brian Addison
As the nation—and particularly California—see an overwhelming shortage of primary care physicians, MemorialCare Health System has officially opened its new 30,000 square-foot facility, MemorialCare Medical Group (MCMG), near North Bellflower Boulevard and Stearns Street that is almost entirely dedicated to primary and urgent care.
The new facility, however, goes further than addressing the statewide need of primary care physicians; it also seeks—almost single-handedly—to alter the perception of healthy living and doctor visits. Eschewing sterile, cold environments that are all-too-common within the medical field, the entrance of MCMG mimics a hotel lobby more than anything, with textured walls, warm colors, lounging chaises and colorful prints that are far more welcoming than traditional doctor’s offices.
There is not a single hint that the shopping-center space used to be occupied by defunct bookseller Borders.
Even more intriguing, rather than using technology in ways that often hinder the doctor-to-patient correspondence, patients at MCMG will not be able to use kiosks to look at available appointments, but also email their doctors to receive test results or discover if what they are experiencing should require an actual visit—not only reducing paper waste, but work waste as well, lowering unneeded doctor visits and heightening direct communication.
The facility’s computer system will also electronically track patients so that if a doctor needs to see you, he or she will not only know precisely where you’re at, but what has or hasn’t been done (e.g. x-rays or test results). This increase in efficiency also simultaneously increases accessibility.
Dr. David Kim boasts of not only the facility’s fresh approach to medicine, he beams happily at the vast amount of people who will be visiting. “At any given moment,” he said, “there will be a two-month-old infant, all the way to a 99-year-old man.”
The youthfulness and progressiveness of the facility is rather exuberant, even extending to their doctors. Take Dr. Ewa Farrelly, a family physician and recent graduate of MemorialCare’s residency program. Her approach is not the dogmatic white-coat one thinks of if you were born in the 80s.
“I am not here to tell you what to do,” she explained. “I am simply here to hopefully help you make more responsible decisions. I want you to not have to see me as often as possible—that means I’m doing my job.”
Or take long-time Long Beach pediatric physician Dr. Selden BeeBe, who clearly spoke of his perspective when asked if facilities such as these are part of the solution to our country’s medical crisis.
“The point is this,” he said, “we wouldn’t be doing our work if it was a burden. Taking a step forward, knowing [what the community needs], and trying to address it is the only way we will not drive medicine into the ground.”
MemorialCare Medical Group is located at 2110 N. Bellflower Blvd. will be open 365 days a year, urgent care included.
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