Scripps Health​ Reopens Outpatient Clinic In Santee

SANTEE, CA — Scripps Health is reopening its Santee clinic on Tuesday, the health system announced in a release. It's also reopening two nearby clinics: Scripps Coastal Medical Center Escondido and Scripps Coastal Medical Center Solana Beach.

Scripps said its clinics will provide the same medical services it did before the coronavirus forced them to close except for radiology. The health system also announced it will resume time-critical surgeries at its five hospital campuses and San Diego County outpatient surgery centers.

Amid the reopening, Scripps said it is taking steps to ensure the health and safety of its employees and patients, including requiring face masks and screening patients for COVID-19 symptoms before entering health facility.

Patients are reminded to provide their own face coverings when visiting a Scripps facility.

The facilities will also be cleaned per stringent protocols, and visitors will not be permitted except in certain cases.

Dr. Ghazala Sharieff serves as Scripps' chief medical officer of clinical excellence and experience. In a release, Sharieff said the safety of patients and caregivers is the health system's top priority.

“We are very thoughtfully and cautiously phasing in a return of services to make sure that we have what we need to protect our patients and staff– from personal protective equipment to disinfecting supplies – to ensure the safety of everyone in our facilities," Sharieff said in a statement. "Scripps clinics and hospitals are safe places to receive medical care for everything from preventative health visits at our outpatient clinics to heart care and cancer treatments at our specialty clinics to immediate medical issues at our urgent care facilities and emergency rooms.”