MultiCare is breaking ground on an all-new $17.5 million comprehensive family health clinic in Kent to replace its current facility on State Avenue North.
The new 36,000-square-foot clinic is scheduled for completion in 2019 and will expand spaces for primary care, women’s health, occupational medicine and urgent care. It will also house a new retail pharmacy.
In 2014, a study determined that the older building, which dates to the 1950s, would require significant investment in the coming years. To support the rapidly growing community, MultiCare leadership determined that the best long-term approach would be to invest in an all-new facility designed to improve work flows and efficiency for patient care, while also leveraging modern design to reduce facility operating costs. This ground-up also eliminates any disruptions to care that upgrading the old facility would have caused.
“We are excited to begin construction of this clinic because we know it brings us closer to being able to provide even better care to our patients,” said Karen Graham, administrator of MultiCare Medical Associates clinic operations. “This clinic represents MultiCare’s continued commitment to the Kent community, and we think it will provide a better patient experience while also providing a more efficient work environment for employees.”
Dr. Hilton Chen, a family practice physician at the clinic since 2002, says the design of the new facility should have a positive impact on communication and camaraderie among the staff because the entire practice will all be on the same floor.
The current clinic, which is on the same property as where the new building will go, will remain open until construction is done.
MultiCare Health System is a not-for-profit health care organization with more than 18,000 employees and a comprehensive system of health including numerous primary care, urgent care and specialty services – including Immediate Clinic, MultiCare Indigo Urgent Care and Pulse Heart Institute – MultiCare Medical Associates, Navos Mental Health Solutions, affiliated physicians and a wide range of community outreach programs.
Seven hospitals complete the organization: Allenmore Hospital, Auburn Medical Center, Good Samaritan Hospital, Deaconess Hospital, Valley (Spokane) Hospital, Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital – the region’s only children’s hospital and state-designated Level II Pediatric Trauma Center for Western Washington – and Tacoma General Hospital, which is home to the region’s only Level IV Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
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MultiCare broke ground on a new 36,000-square-foot clinic this week. COURTESY PHOTO
