San Antonio Regional Hospital outlines plans to expand local care, launch residency and behavioral-health urgent care

San Antonio Regional Hospital officials told the Chino City Council on April 1 that the region faces a hospital “crisis” driven by rising costs, workforce shortages and increased demand for emergency and behavioral-health services.

Heather Raymond, chief marketing and communications officer for San Antonio Regional Hospital, said the hospital’s emergency department was built for about 75,000 visits a year but is on track to exceed 100,000 this year. “Access is definitely an issue,” Raymond said, citing workforce shortages, drug shortages and rising wage costs tied to inflation and minimum-wage increases.

The hospital plans several local initiatives to address those problems. Raymond announced a first-year residency program that will begin in July with 10 residents; the hospital hopes the program will retain physicians in the Inland Empire. She also described plans to open behavioral-health urgent-care sites (noninpatient clinics for urgent medication refills and short-term support), expand “Care4U” clinics for rapid postdischarge follow-up visits, and open a Center for Aging that consolidates primary care, labs, optometry, audiology and therapy services in one location.

Raymond said San Antonio is developing a new maternity wing and NICU, and is raising funds for construction. She emphasized demographic drivers in the area — higher-than-average senior growth and high rates of behavioral-health diagnoses in Chino zip codes — and said the hospital is partnering with local colleges to build a nursing pipeline and with other agencies to site urgent-care behavioral clinics.

Mayor Unasimuloa and City Manager Linda Reich offered brief thanks after the presentation; no formal council action followed. Raymond said the hospital is already locating services in nearby cities and expressed interest in expanding presence in Chino.

Why it matters: the hospital’s plans respond to sustained ED overcrowding and a shortage of primary care and behavioral-health providers, issues that affect access to timely care and drive downstream demands on city services and public safety. The residency program and urgent-care pilots could reduce ED repeat visits if they increase local capacity.

Background and next steps: Raymond said the residency starts in July and the Care4U behavioral-health expansion already includes clinics in Upland and Fontana. The hospital is raising funds for a maternity wing and seeking partners for the Center for Aging; timelines for construction and filings were described only as “next year” for certain projects.

Sources: presentation by Heather Raymond, San Antonio Regional Hospital; brief council exchange recorded at the April 1 Chino City Council meeting.