Santa Clara County approves nearly $1 million lease for health clinic at Planned Parenthood

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (BCN/KTVU) - Santa Clara County supervisors on Tuesday approved a nearly $1 million lease from Planned Parenthood in Mountain View to provide collaborative health services for residents.

Planned Parenthood Mar Monte purchased the Mountain View site at 2500 California St. last year after losing its lease a few blocks away on San Antonio Road.

It's currently the only Planned Parenthood facility between Redwood City and San Jose.

Before Planned Parenthood secured the building, Board of Supervisors President Joe Simitian had pushed for financial backing from the county to support the clinic.

The county will now provide a specialty pediatric dental clinic and additional services with a seven-year, $941,013 lease from Planned Parenthood, with a five-year option to renew at fair market rate.

"Sometimes things work out exactly the way you plan, except totally the opposite," Simitian said.

"Initially we thought the county would have a building with space for Planned Parenthood; as it turns out, Planned Parenthood has a building with space for county health care."

According to the county, 70 percent of the clinic's patients earn below 138 percent of the federal poverty level, but only 24 percent are eligible for Medi-Cal.

Planned Parenthood in Mountain View fills this gap for reproductive health services and primary care for about 8,000 patients a year, 80 percent of which are county residents.

"Together, we will be able to provide more health care services to individuals and families in Mountain View and surrounding communities," Planned Parenthood Mar Monte CEO Stacy Cross said in a statement.

County services at the clinic will be flexible, and could grow to include cardiology, orthopedics, and urology, among others.

Over 2,000 Valley Health Plan customers access care at the Planned Parenthood in Mountain View, according to the county.