Conejo Valley residents will soon have easier access to medical services provided by the Ventura County Health Care Agency.

The Board of Supervisors voted 4-0 last week to lease a 40,300- square-foot building at 125 W. Thousand Oaks Blvd. to consolidate and expand public healthcare in East Ventura County.

Existing clinics operated by the county agency at 223 E. Thousand Oaks Blvd. and 72 Moody Court will move to the new site, which currently houses Borders bookstore.

The clinic is expected to open in late 2011. The lease agreement will cost about $20 million over the next 15 years.

In addition to primary medical and behavioral care, the new clinic will provide urgent care and some specialized services.

“This is going to be a nice facility that our patients and our employees deserve,” said Mike Powers, director of the healthcare agency.

“It’s important to bring all those services together under one roof,” he said.

The new facility will offer services equivalent to those offered at the county-owned Sierra Vista Family Medical Clinic that recently opened in Simi Valley, Supervisor Peter Foy said.

“Bringing services together is cost effective,” Foy said.

The new clinic will be in a building that fronts the 101 Freeway between The Oaks mall and Best Western Inn.

The property belongs to Larry Janss, a longtime Thousand Oaks resident who owns real estate throughout the area.

A Borders bookstore, which employs about 35 people, occupies the site. The business has been there for 15 years.

“The store will close in mid- January, and we’re looking at other options in the area,” said Mary Davis, spokesperson for Borders.

Davis said her company negotiated with Janss for quite some time to extend the lease. “We’ve enjoyed serving the Thousand Oaks area and hope to try to stay,” she said.

Supervisor Linda Parks, a regular customer at Borders, said she plans to help the store find a new site.

“I know they’ve been going through some economic hard times and wanted a smaller building. It would be great if they can achieve a business model that keeps them in Thousand Oaks,” Parks said.

Although not required to do so, Parks said she abstained from voting on the clinic lease on July 13 because Janss supported her during her recent campaign for reelection.

After the board meeting, Parks said she’s pleased that her colleagues approved the lease. The relocation will benefit a growing number of residents who rely on public healthcare due to the sluggish economy, Parks said.

Tenant improvements will cost $6.5 million, and the county will pay about $79,000 per month to lease the site. Patient billing will cover most operating costs, county officials said.

According to a staff report, rent will be free during remodeling and costs will be fixed for the first six years of the lease.

Thousand Oaks Mayor Dennis Gillette said the consolidation of health services “is an excellent move.”

Thousand Oaks residents don’t get enough county services for the funds they pay in property taxes, so the new clinic will help to fill that gap, Gillette said.

But the mayor said the county could have done more to collaborate with city officials before finalizing the contract.

“It would have been nice if the county had told us what they wanted to do and discussed the various sites with the planning department and the police. We feel collaboration would have been best, but I don’t want that to get in the way of the fact we’re pleased,” Gillette said.

Andrew Powers, assistant to the city manager in Thousand Oaks, said the city wasn’t involved in lease negotiations because it’s a business transaction between the county and a private business owner.

But the city looks forward to working with the county on design, landscaping, parking and signage at the building, and it strongly supports the consolidation and expansion of community medical services that will be provided through the facility, Powers said.