It’s gratifying that the Friends of Malibu Urgent Care Center have met with tremendous community support for our urgent care center since the termination of the facility’s subsidy from St. John’s Hospital had left it in peril of closure approximately three years ago. But, the future of the Malibu Urgent Care Center is by no means assured unless Measure M succeeds in passing on November 4.
The Malibu Bay Company Development Agreement provides a critical safety net for the future permanence of our urgent care facility in Malibu. Currently, when the lease is up, the urgent care center could be replaced with a far more profitable retail tenant. Under Measure M, the office building now housing both the U.S. Post Office and the Malibu Urgent Care Center will be replaced with a state-of-the-art medical facility and endowed with up to $1 million and a lease that shall remain at a flat rate for six years. Without the approval of the Development Agreement, our work and the community’s needs will be delayed for an undetermined amount of time.
The closest hospital to Malibu is approximately 26 miles away. Summer traffic, as well as mudslides, fires and accidents occurring along PCH and the canyons, could cause life-threatening delays. That is why having an urgent care facility in the heart of our community is so vitally important. What would we do without a facility that’s open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., 365 days per year? And what would Malibu’s walk-in patients, who have been treated for a large variety of ailments, have done without the Malibu Urgent Care Center? Community needs and medical needs are inextricably linked. I hope the voters of Malibu can appreciate all the positive benefits contained in Measure M.
Marlene Matlow