Bringing Ambulatory Care into the Everyday Fabric of Manteca
Sutter Health’s long-term growth strategy in Northern California centers on expanding access to care in convenient, community-oriented settings. As part of this effort, Sutter authorized a $25 million initiative to build out 15 to 25 ambulatory clinics within former retail and commercial spaces. Based on a strong, trusted relationship, HED was selected in May 2023 to design five of these clinics, including the Manteca Clinic, supporting Sutter’s vision for accessible, neighborhood-based healthcare.
Located within an active shopping center, the Manteca Clinic transforms the ground floor of a single-story retail building from a cold shell into a fully operational outpatient medical facility. As the first healthcare-focused service in the center, the clinic required a careful balance between clinical performance and approachability. The design responds to its commercial context while introducing a healthcare environment that feels familiar, efficient, and welcoming to patients already frequenting the site.
Early planning revealed an opportunity to improve space utilization beyond the original scope. While the initial concept called for fitting out only half of the building, HED identified efficiencies that allowed the clinic to expand across the full footprint. This shift doubled the number of key clinical rooms without increasing complexity, aligning with Sutter’s operational priorities and creating long-term flexibility for growth.
The completed 19,427-square-foot clinic includes twenty-four primary care exam rooms supported by two ultrasound rooms, a general radiology room, a mammography suite, and three blood draw stations serving a point-of-care specimen lab. These services support adult, pediatric, and women’s healthcare within a single, cohesive outpatient setting. The planning honors the Sutter Clinic Module, incorporating a bariatric exam room on each exam corridor and maintaining clear view lanes from provider and staff workstations to support workflow efficiency and connected care.
Completed in 2024, the Sutter Health Manteca Clinic expands access to high-quality ambulatory care in a growing Central Valley community. By repurposing retail space into a modern healthcare destination, the project advances Sutter’s Ambulatory Growth Strategy while reinforcing HED’s positioning as a thoughtful partner in healthcare design, adaptive reuse, and community-centered solutions.
