The Presidio Surgery Center (PSC) could move from its Divisadero Street location and into a vacant property at 1336 Post St. (between Gough and Franklin) in Lower Pacific Heights.
The new location would put the center a block away from the developing California Pacific Medical Center at Van Ness and Geary, expected to open in 2020.
According to documents filed with SF Planning, the surgery center has operated in its current 13,000-square-foot location at 1635 Divisadero St. (and Post) since 1989.
In its September 6th application, PSC wrote that the current space is “insufficient to meet demand for ambulatory surgery service,” particularly as the number of people seeking outpatient joint replacement continues to increase.
The application stated that no other ambulatory service center in the city offers outpatient joint replacement, which Medicare could cover as soon as 2018.
The 34,590-square-foot space at 1336 Post St.—which used to house the Bell Market grocery store before it closed in 2006—already offers plenty of off-street parking and loading zones. The new center is not expected to affect traffic or street parking in the neighborhood.
There are also no changes expected to the exterior of the building under the proposed plans.
The property’s owner, Golden Hills Realty, has authorized Reuben, Junius & Rose, LLP, to complete the planning process on its behalf in conjunction with PSC, the project’s sponsor.
As part of its planning package, PSC also submitted an application seeking compliance with the city’s Health Care Services Master Plan, which aims to improve access to healthcare across San Francisco.
The surgery center said that the expansion of its surgery center into this long-vacant location would make outpatient joint replacement services more broadly available.
It is also investigating ways to provide care to underserved populations, including uninsured or underinsured patients in need of joint replacement surgery.
