What: Rose Urgent Care and Family Practice.
Where: 650 N. Devine Road, Suite B, Vancouver.
Hours: 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.
Contact: 360-952-4457, www.rosemedicalgroups.org
Clark County Medicaid clients struggling to find a medical provider may now be able to find some relief.
A new urgent care and family practice clinic aimed at serving the local Medicaid population opened in Vancouver last week. Dr. Matthew Rose opened the Rose Urgent Care and Family Practice, 650 N. Devine Road, after operating a private practice in East Vancouver for more than two years. In that time, he received hundreds of calls from Medicaid clients looking for care.
“I saw that there was a large unserved and underserved population here with Medicaid,” Rose said. “So I wanted to do something about it.”
What: Rose Urgent Care and Family Practice.
Where: 650 N. Devine Road, Suite B, Vancouver.
Hours: 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.
Contact: 360-952-4457, www.rosemedicalgroups.org
Rose knew his private practice wouldn’t be able to make much of a dent. He only had the ability to take on about a dozen Medicaid clients.
“We decided to go big and start a practice specifically to serve this population,” Rose said.
In Clark County, more than 110,000 adults and children are enrolled in the Medicaid program. Vancouver-based Columbia United Providers is the Medicaid managed care plan serving about 50,000 of those clients.
Shrinking Medicaid reimbursement rates and increasing client numbers — a result of the Medicaid expansion implemented under the Affordable Care Act — make primary care access a challenge in Clark County and many other areas across the state.
Rose reached out to CUP to pursue a contract with the plan. Rose worked with CUP officials to identify an underserved area of Vancouver that could benefit from a new clinic.
Rose opened the doors to that clinic, which sits across the street from McLoughlin Middle School, on Feb. 2. The clinic, which has eight exam rooms and a small lab, is open for appointments and walk-in care in the evenings and Saturdays. Rose and the four nurse practitioners and physician assistants on staff should be able to provide care for about 8,000 patients, Rose said.
The clinic currently only has a contract to provide services for CUP clients but is working to develop contracts with other Medicaid managed care and private insurance plans, Rose said.
The goal, Rose said, is to provide the same level of care patients would receive in his private practice.
Each patient will be assigned to a primary care provider and will see the same provider each time they come in. Children will receive education from a nutritionist about basic nutrition and the importance of exercise.
The clinic also has a policy against prescribing opiates and benzodiazepines and will instead focus on non-narcotic pain management. Rose is working with CUP to develop a drug-free rehab program that will integrate social and psychosocial services, rehab, pain management and physical medical care, Rose said.
“I believe it’s an approach that will offer long-term benefits,” Rose said.
Columbia United Providers is assigning patients to Rose’s clinic as they lose coverage elsewhere or are added to the Medicaid program. If the need continues, Rose said he’s prepared to open additional clinics.
“This clinic is just the beginning,” he said.
