For the second time Emanuel Medical Center is having to close the doors on one of its clinics because of a lack of a physician.

Emanuel Medical Center will be closing the orthopedic clinic at 2121 Colorado Ave. Suite C, staffed by Dr. Peter Rinaldi by April 8. Rinaldi is the sole orthopedic surgeon at the clinic and the hospital has been unable to find another to step into the clinic after his departure.

EMC sent a letter to the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors and the California Department of Public Health notifying them of the closure. The statement reads: “The reason for the closure of the clinic and the termination of services thereby is that the sole orthopedic surgeon available to provide services at the clinic is departing from the practice and will no longer be available to provide services. Further, Emanuel Medical Center is unable to find a replacement for this physician. Therefore, the hospital cannot continue the service currently provided by the clinic.”

The clinic patients have been notified of the pending closure and were provided a list of four other orthopedic surgeons in Turlock. None of the four accept Medi-Cal according to EMC. The hospital also is providing patients information on how to obtain their medical records from the clinic.

This is the second clinic that EMC has been forced to shutter because of a doctor shortage. In April 2015 two Emanuel Family Practice clinics in Turlock and Patterson were closed because the last primary care physician at the facilities decided to relocate to the Bay Area.