Clark County residents can now stop in an east Vancouver Walgreens store to see a physician about a sprained ankle or itchy rash.
The Walgreens store in Fisher’s Landing, 1905 S.E. 164th Ave., is among three metro-area stores now housing health clinics under a collaboration with Providence Health & Services. The three Providence Express Care at Walgreens clinics — east Vancouver, Beaverton, Ore., and Milwaukie, Ore. — opened to patients Monday morning.
“We are trying to respond to folks in our communities that are asking for more convenient access to health care,” said Dr. Benjamin LeBlanc, chief medical officer for Providence Medical Group.
The express care clinics are open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily and accept walk-in visits, as well as appointments, which can be scheduled online at www.providence.org/expresscare.
Providers at the clinics can treat common conditions, such as head colds, chest colds, sprains and strains, cuts and scrapes, and rashes and infections. The clinics are run by Providence staff and tie into Providence’s electronic medical records system, allowing providers to coordinate between visits.
“The providers see this as a way their patients can get care outside of their regular hours,” LeBlanc said.
But the clinics aren’t limited to Providence patients. The clinics are open to anyone and accept various insurance plans, including Medicare and Medicaid, LeBlanc said.
The express sites also offer self-pay rates. For those patients, a standard visit costs $99 and a sports/school physical costs $50. Procedures are $40; screenings and tests are $8 and $15, with additional charges possible if the tests need to be sent to a lab.
Insured patients pay the co-pays or coinsurance outlined in their health plans.
The three clinics that opened Monday are the first of about 10 Walgreens express clinics planned to open in the metro area this year, LeBlanc said. Some of those clinics will be in Clark County, but the site selections haven’t been finalized, he said.
Providence also plans to open about 10 standalone express sites in the metro area. Those clinics will be located in retail settings but will not be inside Walgreens stores, LeBlanc said.
Providence has standalone express sites in Lake Oswego, Ore., and North Portland.
