Urgent care to open in Half Moon Bay 

The urgent care opening comes after a controversial closure of the Seton Moss Beach emergency room, which owner AMHC Healthcare maintained was necessary for storm repairs but local leaders have lambasted as illegal.

Most recently, California Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit against the health care company for allegedly violating contractual obligations that stipulated Seton Coastside and Seton Daly City — both purchased by AMHC in 2020 — must stay open for at least 5 ½ years and only close for the minimum amount of time possible if a closure was required.

Last communications from AMHC say that Seton Coastside’s emergency room won’t reopen until spring 2025, said San Mateo County Supervisor Ray Mueller — who represents the coast. Mueller has been active in fighting to restore essential health care services to his district, emphasizing that the San Mateo County coast no longer has any emergency services.

While the urgent care is a necessary step forward for the community, it’s no replacement for emergency room services, Mueller said.

“People are excited about the urgent care. Right now, there’s a big push on the coast to spread the word it’s there. People want to make sure people use it,” he said. “At the same time ... people realize this is not a replacement for an emergency room, and in no way should this let Seton off the hook.”

The urgent care will accept any insurance, as well as residents with no insurance — free of charge — and will operate Wednesday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., with Monday and Tuesday hours to be determined.

At a health care access forum Oct. 29, representatives from Dignity Health answered resident questions about the facility and its upcoming operations. They stressed that the new facility does not have the equipment or space to become a primary care or emergency department.

“The idea isn’t to become the primary care provider or potentially, depending on the situation, the final solution for that person, although it may be. It all depends on the chronicity of the situation,” Sarah Finerty, a physician who will work at the urgent care, said.

For life-threatening emergencies, individuals should still seek an emergency department, said Dr. Marie President, Dignity Health Medical Group Sequoia chief medical officer.

“Time is of the essence. If somebody’s having a heart attack or asthma attack or pulmonary embolism or stroke symptoms, time is the difference,” she said. “Time can be the difference between serious harm, and life and death.”

Mueller also emphasized the facility’s functions — it won’t have X-ray equipment or equipment to stabilize a heart, unlike the Seton Coastside facility. Physicians will be on site to realize if a patient is in danger and assess for further medical treatment, he said.

The community is supportive of the urgent care effort and interested in addressing heath care shortages on the coastside, President said, noting that 725 individuals responded to a questionnaire form about the new urgent care.

“They’re so ready and sort of fed up with not having a place to go,” she said.

She stressed that the urgent care could be both a benefit to residents, tourists and the county, as they collect data on the demographics of individuals utilizing the services. In addition, the urgent care will not ask about documentation status, President said.

“We will take anybody for urgent care services that walks through the door. We don’t care what your insurance is. We don’t care if you’re Kaiser. We don’t care if you have no insurance. We don’t care if you don’t speak English,” she said. “We want the community to know that for this pilot program, we will take care of it.”

It’s Mueller’s hope that ongoing litigation with the attorney general will ultimately extend the amount of time Seton Coastside will be required to have the emergency room open, Mueller said.

“We’re working as hard as we can to address the fact the San Mateo County coast really is a health care desert,” he said.