Armed with golden hammers, Lompoc Valley Medical Center leaders and employees gleefully walloped a wall Monday while celebrating an expansion of primary and specialty care in the community.
The ceremony marked the start of work to convert the interior of the former CoastHills Credit Union headquarters building in Vandenberg Village into medical offices.
“When patients don’t get timely primary care, it really sets the stage for poor outcomes and more costly care,” said Yvette Cope, LVMC chief executive officer.
The building at 3380 Constellation Road will become Lompoc Health’s Village Center, putting new primary care providers and several specialty care providers and services in the unincorporated community between Lompoc and Vandenberg Space Force Base.
Instead of a groundbreaking ceremony, Monday’s event featured breaking a wall — or at least banging big holes into the plaster before Rarig Construction moved in for the real work.
“This is fun,” Cope added of her demolition duties.
Hospital leaders have worked for several years toward expanding their services beyond the city and into nearby Vandenberg Village.
“Our population is growing, so we need to grow with it,” Cope said.
Mark Cordes, a Lompoc Valley Medical Center board member, called Monday’s celebration “a milestone moment.”
“From our humble beginnings in the 1940s and now to the Village Clinic today, our story has been one of community partnership, resilient hospital leadership and forward planning,” Cordes said. “As these walls come down today, let us remember what’s being built in their place — expanded access, strengthened services and another milestone for Lompoc and the surrounding communities.”
The new Village Center will ensure that the community has reliable local access to care for decades, he added.
“Every milestone in our history reflects the same pattern — community needs followed by thoughtful action and health care leadership to expand access to care. I’m proud the Village Center project is a continuation of this legacy,” Cordes added.
The Lompoc Hospital District Foundation has raised approximately $1.4 million for the first phase of the project and continues to work toward getting additional funding.
“The foundation’s donation really helped turn this vision into reality,” Cordes said.
So far, Lompoc Health has signed four new physicians with the first starting in March, others in April and one more in November as recruiting continues, Cope said.
Each new provider will serve between 800 and 1,000 patients annually, helping fill the community’s need, she added.
The first phase of the Village Center project, encompassing 7,500 square feet and costing $4.2 million, will create 12 exam rooms, a treatment room, three nurses stations, six provider offices, a 600-square-foot waiting area, a blood draw lab and diagnostic imaging. Work should be done by October.
The second phase, also 7,500 square feet with a $3.8 million price tag, will add 18 exam/treatments rooms, eight provider offices, an audiology lab and occupational medicine. The phase will focus on special services and equipment for urogynecology, pediatrics and more.
CoastHills Credit Union’s Vandenberg Village branch will continue to operate from the other section of the building.
The hospital acquired the building from CoastHills after the longtime credit union relocated its headquarters to Santa Maria.
Lompoc boasts having the first operating health care district established in California with its creation in 1946.
“I think those of us who have worked at the old hospital or remember the old hospital back in the ’70s have to be truly amazed at what’s taken place over the decades and the past 15 years,” said Dr. Randall Michel, LVMC chief medical officer. “To be able to expand the access for patients in the whole district has been very impressive.
“I trust that under the current administration and the board members that this is only going to be another step in the evolution of Lompoc Valley Medical Center.”