Vancouver Clinic is gearing up to open the doors of its new urgent care clinic in its Salmon Creek 2 Clinic building near Legacy Salmon Creek Medical Center.
When the new three-story building at 2529 N.E. 139th St. opens Nov. 7, it will become home to an extended-hours urgent care and an expanded musculoskeletal specialty care center. A new surgery center is set to open in the building in early 2023.
“We are expanding as our community grows,” Vancouver Clinic Chief Executive Officer Mark Mantei said in a press release. “When you have more people, you need more doctors, more exam rooms and more options for care. We are honored to help meet this essential need and to continue our 85-year tradition of serving the people of Southwest Washington.”
Vancouver Clinic served 110,000 patients in the first nine months of this year, across six different urgent care clinics, according to Vancouver Clinic Marketing Director Kelly Love. The most common conditions seen were upper respiratory issues, urinary tract concerns, ear infections and ankle sprains. The new location, with more room and expanded hours, will allow patient capacity to grow.
The new ground-floor urgent care clinic will replace the smaller facility with shorter hours in the Salmon Creek 1 Clinic building across the parking lot. It will be open until 11 p.m. on weekdays and 7 p.m. on weekends. The goal is to eventually extend to a 24-hour urgent care, according to Vancouver Clinic board chair Dr. Keren Rosenblum.
The urgent care has eight exam rooms and two triage rooms along with five observation rooms where clinicians and staff can monitor patients receiving IV fluids and other care, according to Love.
“You’ll hear us talk about this focus on population health. So our idea is ‘How much can you do for the person in the ambulatory setting and avoid high-cost centers like a hospital?’” Rosenblum said. “So with our expanded capabilities, we’ll really be able to do more for patients in this setting and not have to send them to the ER unnecessarily.”
The urgent care will also offer CT, ultrasound and X-ray imaging services on site.
Throughout the design process, patient privacy was a top priority, with additions such as white-noise machines in the check-in areas and throughout the building.
“One thing you’ll notice is in all of our new facilities: We’ve really paid attention to patient privacy,” Rosenblum said. “The patient focus from the start to finish in terms of the feel of your experience, the quality of your care, the seamlessness, the integration, the safety.”
The other half of the ground floor in the new facility is home to a physical therapy suite, marking the sixth for Vancouver Clinic. The new suite will have three physical therapists, with space for three more, according to Love.
The second floor of the new building houses orthopedics, pain management, sports medicine, and podiatry, foot and ankle surgery suites. The floor is broken into three pods with 12 exam rooms in each. Each pod has its own dedicated X-ray machine at the request of physicians, helping to reduce patient wait times, according to Love.
The pain-management procedure suite will be Vancouver Clinic’s first of its kind, providing access for patients to receive most injections and treatments in the suite instead of going to the ambulatory surgery center for care.
Coming in early 2023, the third floor will house a new ambulatory surgery center with six operating rooms and 18 private pre- and post-procedure rooms.
“Our community is experiencing a growing need for medical services,” said Rosenblum. “This is so much more than just a new building. Salmon Creek 2 represents our commitment to our families, friends and neighbors to provide the care that keeps people healthy.”
