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September 9, 2013 | 10:47 p.m.

Images from the Noozhawk Safety Net series.

Charles Condelos, a retired banker, regularly goes to the Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinics for his primary care and to renew his prescription for back pain medication. He says Dr. Charles Fenzi, who was treating him that day at the Westside Clinic, and Dr. Susan Lawton are some of the best people he’s ever met. (Giana Magnoli / Noozhawk)

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Physician's assistant Melissa Ellis listens to the heartbeat of 7-month-old Javier Ramirez at Santa Barbara's Eastside Neighborhood Clinic during a "well-baby" visit, a program offered by Medi-Cal that covers check-ups of infants. (Lara Cooper / Noozhawk)

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Dr. Charles Fenzi has headed the Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinics since January 2012, and also spends time with patients every week. He’s a family physician and has worked with the Community Health Centers of Central California – which serve the North County — and a community health organization in New Mexico. (Giana Magnoli / Noozhawk)

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Dr. Chris Flynn listens to patient Alonso Camarena talk about the pain he's experiencing during a recent visit to the Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital emergency room. Camarena, who does not have insurance, discovered he had cancer on his first visit to an emergency room two years ago. (Lara Cooper / Noozhawk)

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Scribes follow Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital emergency room doctors around with portable computer stations to take notes on each patient's case. (Lara Cooper / Noozhawk)

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Mary Alcasas brought her youngest granddaughter, Elena Cendejas, to the Westside Neighborhood Clinic for a physical this summer. Cendejas graduated Harding University Partnership School and is now starting junior high school in Santa Barbara. Alcasas has been coming to the clinic since the 1960s and brings all of her grandkids to see Dr. Charles Fenzi, right, who practices family medicine in addition to being the clinic’s chief medical officer. (Giana Magnoli / Noozhawk)

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Dr. Brett Wilson examines 3-month-old Edwin Medel, who was brought into the Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital’s emergency room by his mother. (Giana Magnoli / Noozhawk)

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Nurse Jenael Rose has been working at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital's emergency room for three years after graduating from the CSU Channel Islands nursing program. When the ER is at its busiest, these hallway beds are filled with patients separated by curtains. (Giana Magnoli / Noozhawk)

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Two AMR paramedics use a rare moment of quiet to make gurney beds in the ambulance bay at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital. Cottage doctors say that many people with untreated mental illness are coming to the emergency room because they have no other place to go. (Lara Cooper / Noozhawk)

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Dr. Chris Flynn looks at the emergency room log at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital. Flynn says he is seeing more patients enter the emergency room as a result of "social failure" — because of untreated mental illness, drug addiction or both. (Lara Cooper / Noozhawk)

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Pediatrician Dr. Andria Ruth, left, and physician's assistant Melissa Ellis discuss a patient's case at the Eastside Neighborhood Clinic. The implementation of the Affordable Care Act is expected to bring more patients into the system, but not more doctors. (Lara Cooper / Noozhawk)

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Ambulances wait outside the emergency room at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital. With wait times for primary-care appointments likely to increase, the emergency rooms at local hospitals are expected to receive more patients. (Giana Magnoli / Noozhawk)

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