Kaiser Permanente Fresno set to open new expansion facility

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- After two years of construction, Kaiser Permanente's new 146,000 square-foot facility is now ready to welcome in patients.

"Our medical center that we built 30 years ago is running out of space so that expansion and ability to better care for our patients is what it represents for us," said Kaiser Permanente's senior vice president and area manager Tyler Hedden said.

From labs to a full pharmacy, family friendly waiting rooms and more, hundreds of new care providers and physicians will soon bring their expertise to the valley.

"This is an area in which we have a shortage of physicians and nurses. We're an underserved area," said Congressman Jim Costa.

Dr. Shahzad Johromi is the Physician in Chief for Kaiser Fresno. He says this growth is critical as the healthcare system needs to catch up with the growth of the city.

"When I first became Physician in Chief, I realized we didn't have enough physicians to care for our patients so we went on a recruitment," Dr. Johromi said.

While challenging, Dr. Johromi says they were able to bring more doctors, ultimately providing further access to care.

"When I first joined here, we had around 184 positions at Kaiser Permanente. Now we're over 320 physicians. We really double down on recruitment and showcase at Fresno what Fresno has to offer to physicians," he said.

Kaiser serves more than 160,000 members valley wide, spanning five counties.

These new offices are specially designed to support long term health and preventative care for the community.

"Kaiser Permanente has been here for over 40 years. It's just represents more investment a growing and vivacious valley area," Hedden said.

The new facility, which is located on near Herndon and First, will open its doors on October 6.

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