o What: Greater Vancouver Chamber of Commerce ribbon-cutting.
o When: Noon to 1 p.m. Aug. 20.
o Where: Legacy-GoHealth Urgent Care,
305 S.E. Chkalov Drive, Suite 170, Vancouver.
Clark County residents with ailments that may not warrant a visit to the emergency department but need urgent attention will soon have a new option.
Legacy Health and GoHealth Urgent Care are teaming up to open their first joint urgent care clinic in Vancouver.
The Legacy-GoHealth Urgent Care clinic, 305 S.E. Chkalov Drive, Suite 170, will be the seventh location opened through the partnership, which was announced in January. The new clinic is in the Cascade Park Plaza at the intersection of Mill Plain Boulevard and Chkalov Drive and is expected to open Aug. 17.
The organizations plan to add up to two more Clark County locations in the next couple of years, said Dr. Greg Carroll, GoHealth medical director.
o What: Greater Vancouver Chamber of Commerce ribbon-cutting.
o When: Noon to 1 p.m. Aug. 20.
o Where: Legacy-GoHealth Urgent Care,
305 S.E. Chkalov Drive, Suite 170, Vancouver.
“We’re deeply committed to Vancouver,” he said. “Ultimately, what we’re about is access.”
The urgent care will provide medical care after normal provider business hours — the clinic will likely be open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days per week — and be closer to home for many patients, said Bryce Helgerson, Legacy Salmon Creek Medical Center’s chief administrative officer.
“Health care, we believe, won’t necessarily be provided within the four walls of the hospital,” Helgerson said. “Health happens in the community.”
The clinic will accept commercial health plans in the Legacy network, as well as same-day payments, Medicaid and Medicare.
The new location has about 2,400 square feet of clinic space, as well as office space and meeting rooms.
Full-length windows line the clinic front. Inside, patients will find a reception area with a small number of chairs. The goal, Carroll said, is to get people checked in and with a provider quickly so they won’t need a large waiting room.
“People come to see the provider, not to wait and fill out paperwork,” he said.
From the reception desk, patients can see into the clinic. Large sliding doors offer privacy in exam rooms, but provider work stations are visible from the clinic entry.
High-tech touches
The clinic will have five exam rooms, one of which will also serve as a treatment room. That room will feature smart glass, which is clear when the room is not being used and, at the flip of a switch, turns opaque for privacy when in use.
The exam rooms are larger than most — about 10 feet by 10 feet — to ensure the room has space for family members or friends who typically accompany a person to urgent care, Carroll said.
On one wall of each exam room will be a flat-screen monitor. Patient notes will be projected on the screen as the provider types, involving the patient in the process, Carroll said. The screens can also be used to show patients their discharge instructions, he said.
“It makes the confusion around health care a little more understandable,” Carroll said.
The urgent care clinic will be staffed by Legacy Medical Group providers, who will make referrals for primary care providers and specialists, as needed. The clinic will also use the same electronic medical record system as the Legacy hospitals and provider groups, making sharing patient files and information easy.
The urgent care clinic will have an on-site X-ray unit and basic lab testing abilities.
“We try to bridge that gap between primary care and emergency department,” Carroll said.
The addition of an urgent care clinic will, officials hope, allow patients to receive timely care in the appropriate setting.
“We want people at the right level of care,” Helgerson said.
People show up to the Legacy Salmon Creek emergency department for medical care that could be provided at an urgent care clinic, which is less costly and more efficient, he said. People who need lower level care end up waiting longer in the emergency department than they would at an urgent care clinic, Helgerson said.
“The patient is served at the level they need,” he said.
