New Dialysis Center Planned In Watsonville

WATSONVILLE, CA — A $10 million 36-chair dialysis center anticipates beginning construction this spring and opening in January 2021 at a site near the Watsonville Community Hospital.

San Ramon-based Meridian, a real estate developer specializing in health care, purchased the one-acre property and expects to begin building the 11,000-square-foot facility in April. The land is at 58 Hangar Way and 5 Neilson Street, adjacent to the hospital and Watsonville Hospital emergency room, Meridian announced in a statement.

Meridian has been looking for a site in the Watsonville and Santa Cruz areas for five years, said Mike Conn, Meridian executive vice president, in the statement. Dialysis patients can face commutes of up to an hour, three times per week, to receive treatment.

The land was previously zoned as industrial but the city council changed it to permit a medical facility, he said.