San Francisco Mayor London Breed joined city health officials on Feb. 12 for the groundbreaking ceremony of the newly relocated and upgraded urgent care unit at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital.

With the opening of the hospital’s new $1.8 million Adult Urgent Care Center, residents with injuries not considered life-threatening will be able to get same-day medical care. The new center officially opened Feb. 21.

“As our population continues to grow, it’s more important now more than ever to make sure our public facilities are up-to-date and the latest in technology and programs, but also resilient and strong in the event of a major earthquake or any other disaster that may come our way,” Breed said.

The new facility has been moved from Building 80, a historic 1930s-era building on the hospital campus, to Building 5, which is currently undergoing seismic retrofitting to ensure critical services remains intact in the event of an earthquake.

The expanded unit also includes upgraded technology and 12 patient rooms, three more than the previous unit.

“It’s blowing me away. I’m not only happy for the patients you are serving, I’m excited for the people who are working in this facility every day. You deserve the kinds of conditions that help you to better do your job, especially under, many times, the most challenging of circumstances,” Breed said.

“This urgent care center is a vital hub for our San Francisco Health Network. If you’re a patient at Maxine Hall in the Western Addition or the Southeast Health Center, when you can’t get into your primary care appointment, this is a place you can come for service,” said Roland Pickens, director of the San Francisco Health Network.

According to the San Francisco Department of Public Health, in 2018 the hospital’s urgent care center served more than 20,000 patients, with about 18,000 of those being drop-in patients.

Funds for the new unit came from the June 2016 Proposition A Public Health and Safety Bond, which 79 percent of San Francisco voters approved, and the city’s capital budget.

Story originally published by Bay City News.