Happy birthday, urgent care
The Alta Loma Medical Group, an urgent care center headed by Mayor Don Kurth, is just 25 years old but the poor thing was treated like it belonged in the history books. At the center's birthday bash, Councilwoman Diane Williams kept rubbing it in.
"It's had half a million patient visits since it opened," she said. "That's a lot of shots and band-aids."
The center, located on Archibald and Base Line, held a celebration typical for this town. There was an inoffensive band playing popular rock, catering by Saffron's and plenty of lager served in plastic cups. Among the attendants were those who like to hob nob with the mayor, those who are running for election and those who are thinking of running for future office. This kind of schmoozing was captured by staff photographer Jenn Cappuccio.
Twenty five years doesn't seem that many so I asked Kurth to talk about what it was like when it first started. For starters, there was no computer. Imagine that. He took me to the lobby and told me his patients used to wait for him in these very seats, smoking. The lobby was empty but he lowered his voice when he told me, "And I would smoke with them."
Things have changed for Kurth, who as mayor, got a smoking ban to pass in this city. Perhaps his success is best depicted when Williams presented Kurth with a proclamation signed by the mayor himself.
"I thought it was kinda strange if he gave himself the proclamation," Williams said, calling Kurth "Dr. Mayor."
Accepting a proclamation that you signed yourself is the sort of thing I would normally make fun of. But I found the incident rather inspirational. Some day, when I'm a more established journalist, I'm going to give myself a Pulitzer. Why not?
Read the rest of the article that will appear in Friday's City News section.
By Wendy Leung
RANCHO CUCAMONGA -- Age is relative, especially in this young city.
But when Alta Loma Medical Group marked its 25th year, everyone agreed it's an established stalwart.
The urgent care center, located at Archibald Avenue and Base Line Road and run by Mayor Don Kurth, opened in a time when the city was budding and the health care options slim.
"In those days, there was no managed care, no HMOs. Just Kaiser," Kurth said.
Patients paid cash at the time of service and managers who kept track of transactions and medical records used a peg board system, which was a board of pegs and holes that attached carbon copies of documents.
The system lasted a few years before Kurth purchased a computer. His first one for the medical center cost $40,000.
Kurth's role as a physician eventually led him to becoming a politician.
When he expanded his medical center, he fought the city against the requirement of installing expensive fire doors for his office. Kurth eventually convinced the city he didn't need them and the Chamber of Commerce took notice.
The chamber asked Kurth to get involved and become an advocate for local businesses. From the chamber, Kurth eventually served on the Cucamonga Valley Water District Board and the City Council.
Sharron Griffin-Bennett, who has been the office manager for the last 11 years, said she has seen the center go through economic highs and lows and seen insurance companies pay for less and less services.
"The greatest thing about all this is we've survived the hardest of times," Griffin-Bennett said.
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