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Sutter Health opens new surgical center in Turlock
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Sutter Health held a ribbon cutting ceremony for their new surgical center inside Tower Health and Wellness Center in Turlock (JOE CORTEZ/The Journal).

Sutter Health widened its presence in Turlock, cutting the ribbon Monday on a new surgical center inside Tower Health and Wellness Center, located at 1801 Colorado Ave.

The 11,000-square-foot facility features three operating rooms where surgeons and care teams will provide access to care for those in Turlock and its surrounding communities.

Providers will initially care for Medicare patients at the new location; the center will open for patients with other insurance types early next year.

“We lack a lot of care here,” said Turlock Mayor Amy Bublak, who was on hand to take a tour of the new surgical center. “People say that nobody wants to come here and live, as a doctor, so it’s been difficult. But to see the investment Sutter’s putting into Turlock gives me hope.”

Bublak said that she and Gino Patrizio, president of Sutter Health’s Greater Central Valley Division, will remain in contact about more Sutter expansion in the city.

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Mayor Amy Bublak takes a tour of the new Sutter Health surgical center inside Tower Health and Wellness Center (JOE CORTEZ/The Journal).

“I’m going to have a map of all the places that he might be able to use to make Sutter even better and bigger,” said Bublak. “I want to facilitate that, because if people choose to live here, they should be taken care of here, and not have to drive to Modesto.”

Monday’s ribbon-cutting marked the second such ceremony for Sutter Health in 2025; the health care company made services available inside the Delbon Medical Center, 1000 Delbon Ave., back in January.

“We actually cut two ribbons that day because there are two suites inside of that clinic,” said Amber Campbell, CEO for ambulatory care of Sutter Health’s Greater Central Valley Division. “The first one is our behavioral health suite … and the second suite is for our cardiology team.”

The new components on Colorado and on Delbon complement the existing Turlock Care Center at 3100 Christoffersen Parkway, which continues to provide primary and specialty care. And coming to the Tower Health and Wellness Center in early 2026 will be gastrointestinal, orthopedics/podiatry, and pain management suites.

“We’ll be back in January 2026 to cut ribbons for those,” said Campbell. “And we’re working on a handful of other business development opportunities in the community, though we’re not ready to announce anything quite yet.”

Patrizio said Turlock will play an important role as health care becomes more available to residents of the Central Valley.

“We’re continuing our growth and looking to expand into communities to the south,” said Patrizio. “Because once we get south of Turlock, despite the wonderful men and women who work in health care already, relative to the number of people that are served, there’s not enough of them. And we’d like to expand our way down the Highway 99 corridor and help fill that void.

“One of our philosophies is that we need to affinitize growth to a hub, and Turlock is the hub to which we can affinitize incremental growth to the south.”

Turlock Chamber of Commerce executive director Allie Jeffery, who previously worked in the health care industry, is excited to see Sutter Health’s plans for the city.

“It’s an exciting thing for our community whenever we can gain access to care,” said Jeffery. “We know that with the disparity in the number of doctors and facilities in the area, and the wait times, it’s great when we can secure these services close to home. Drawing providers into our area and increasing care, that’s good stuff all around.”

Drake Milligan rocks, tractor pulling roars and temps rise as 114th Stanislaus County Fair starts
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StanCoFair influencers Jocelyn McKay and Kristina Cornejo and their kids enjoy the opening day of the fair (CANDY PADILLA/The Journal).
A recurring theme at the opening night of the 2025 Stanislaus County Fair in Turlock — the 107th edition of the annual event — was the heat. Sure, it's not 108 degrees like last year, but 102 on Friday afternoon wasn't too far off.
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