Clinic seeks donors for remodeling

Staff of medical clinic hopes residents will ‘adopt’ and refurbish rooms, so that decor reflects quality of care.After plans to move into a new building fell through last year, the Laguna Beach Community Clinic has taken a different tack.

In an effort to improve the look of their building, the staff of the clinic is asking residents to adopt rooms in the facility and fix them up.

The waiting room and one of the clinic’s nine exam rooms have been adopted already.

Dr. Thomas Bent, who heads the clinic, created the refurbishment plan, dubbed “A New Face for a Caring Place.”

The clinic is a nonprofit organization that provides medical care to Orange County residents regardless of their ability to pay.

Though Bent and the rest of the staff would like to have people adopt rooms, they are looking for anyone willing to contribute to the project. They need donors to cover everything from buying new cabinets to repaving the parking lot.

“It’s mostly cosmetic,” said Bent. “When people come here for medical treatment, the look of the building should reflect that they get excellent care and [that] we have some of the best doctors in California working here.”

The staff includes current and former UC medical professors. Dr. Korey Jorgensen, the 2004 California Physician of the Year and a partner at the clinic, said the look they were going for was “clean” and “professional,” a look that’s “respectful to patients and staff.”

“We’re open to anyone with the checkbook and the will to [adopt a room],” Jorgensen said. “We like designers because they already have all the connections to do the whole room, but if ordinary people have the money, we have the vendors lined up.”

So far, some donors have been lined up for new countertops, but the children’s exam rooms still look like walk-in closets, some of the outside lights still don’t work and each door knob in the building is different.

For more information or to make a donation, contact Elaine Smith at (949) 494-0761, ext. 134. 20051014ioa5yzknDON LEACH / COASTLINE PILOT(LA)Thomas Bent, medical director for Laguna Beach Community Clinic, describes the deteriorating condition of the building’s walls, windows, paint and cabinets. He hopes donors will step forward to help refurbish the clinic.