If Bev Finley's hunches are correct, more Stanislaus County residents will visit with specialty doctors via computer.

They'll come to regard county medical clinics as community centers. And they'll see Health Services Agency programs move from the former county hospital building to other locations.

Finley, 66, has been head of the county Health Services Agency since 1994 and will retire from her post June 30. In an interview, she offered the following predictions for the future of health care in the county:

Telemedicine

Residents should expect to connect with more specialists, such as dermatologists and neurologists, without driving long distances or waiting months for appointments.

The concept, called telemedicine, allows patients to use computers, phone lines, cameras and microphones to have virtual office visits with specialists who might not be available locally.

Telemedicine is already in place at the Health Services Agency clinic in Hughson, and Finley hopes other county clinics will offer it soon.

She envisions a van equipped with computer hookups traveling throughout the county, perhaps stopping by one county clinic each day. The result will be more access to specialty care.

Telemedicine is especially important in California, Finley said, because insurance companies and government insurance programs don't reimburse specialty doctors much for the care they provide here. As a result, it's difficult to recruit the doctors, Finley said.

"Telemedicine is going to be the future, especially if we can't attract specialists as a community," she said.

Community centers

Coordinating with other agencies, the county's medical clinics will evolve into community centers, offering much more than health care.

In 1996, the agency -- following the example of private medical groups throughout the nation -- set up clinics in outlying areas. Patients in Empire and Hughson, for example, no longer need to travel to Modesto to see a Health Services Agency doctor.

There are now eight medical offices throughout the county providing different levels of care. Three are in Modesto. Clinics also are located in Empire, Hughson, Ceres, Turlock and Salida.

The Hughson clinic is next to a branch of the county library, a mental health clinic and an office of the county's Community Services Agency.

A west Modesto clinic, set to open next year, will be in a complex with similar agencies, including a branch of the county probation department, Finley said. A private pharmacy is located nearby.

"It will be a real community center," Finley said.

Relocating services

Many Health Services Agency programs soon will move from the old county hospital on Scenic Drive, Finley said.

The county closed the hospital in 1997, citing financial troubles and the pressures of managed care. Health Services Agency offices remained in the building, and an urgent care clinic took over the hospital's old emergency room.

But the building is expensive to heat and cool, Finley said. County officials now are deciding which services to move and where.

Finley, credited with starting several county clinics and managing the closure of the county hospital, announced her retirement last month.

County officials hope to have a new managing director of the Health Services Agency hired by September.

Bee staff writer Kerry McCray can be reached at 578-2358 or kmccray@modbee.com.

Reprinted by permission of Modesto Bee.