CATHOLIC HEALTHCARE WEST: Clinic Will Be Ready For First Pitch

      Catholic Healthcare West announced yesterday that under a deal with the San Francisco Giants, its in-stadium clinic "should be ready for patients when the first pitch is thrown at Pacific Bell Park in April 2000." The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the year-round CHW Bay Area Health Center -- the first community clinic in a pro sports stadium -- will provide rehabilitation care for the players, first-aid services for fans and "urgent medical care for the burgeoning South Beach neighborhood, along with job-related health services for local workers." The Chronicle reports that CHW is unlikely to encounter the community opposition to its deal with the Giants -- unlike Coca-Cola's plans to place a giant bottle in the middle "of a playground behind the left field stands" which has "riled some neighbors." Rick Mariano, former chair of the neighborhood citizens advisory committee, said, "It's a neighborhood resource, and something that will mean the stadium will be more than a building unused six months of the year" (Epstein, 11/12).