Everett Clinic plans expansion in Shoreline, Lynnwood, south Everett

The Everett Clinic has signed a lease to open a new 40,000-square-foot clinic in Shoreline and also is planning new clinics in Lynnwood and south Everett within two years.

The health-care provider expects to start treating people in September in the Shoreline Marketplace at 1201 N. 175th St. across from Shoreline City Hall. It’s the same building where Trader Joe’s plans to open in February.

Over the next several years, The Everett Clinic could add as many as five more clinics and is already looking at areas as far south as Fremont and Ballard in Seattle to Kirkland and north Bellevue on the East Side.

“We felt we needed over the next five years to at least double in size and at least have a market presence in north King County on both sides of the north end of Lake Washington,” said Jeff Bissey, The Everett Clinic’s chief operating officer.

When it opens next year, the Shoreline clinic will provide primary care, a walk-in clinic and some medical specialties. In the future, the clinic is expected to house up to 50 providers. Services are expected to include family and internal medicine and pediatrics as well as urgent care and medical specialties in behavioral health, allergy, optometry/optical, physical therapy, pulmonary, occupational medicine and OB/GYN.

The city of Shoreline learned recently about the expansion plans, Shoreline Mayor Shari Winstead said.

“We’re very excited to have The Everett Clinic for both of those reasons,” Winstead said. “It’s going to provide great services to our residents and also bring some good jobs to the area.”

Two other clinics are on the horizon for The Everett Clinic.

In south Everett, the health-care provider is looking to lease a 40,000- to 50,000-square-foot building on Evergreen Way about three miles south of its current location to build a new primary clinic, Bissey said. That clinic is scheduled to open in March 2017.

Then, the health-care provider will backfill clinic space at its current location with specialists, he said.

And, earlier this year, The Everett Clinic purchased the former Emery’s Gardens site at the northwest corner of 164th Street SW and 28th Avenue W in Lynnwood.

It plans to build a 60,000- to 80,000-square-foot clinic similar to its Smokey Point Medical Center which opened in 2012 in Marysville.

Groundbreaking in Lynnwood is expected to begin next summer with the new clinic scheduled to open in September 2017.

The design of the new locations will be based on The Everett Clinic’s Smokey Point Medical Center, which has attracted interest from international medical groups and has earned honors for outstanding healthcare facilities design.

About 100,000 patients visit Smokey Point each year. It offers 20 medical specialties as well as primary care, a walk-in clinic, and lab, vision, and radiology services.

In September, the clinic added 23 exam rooms and space for 12 new providers at Smokey Point. This gives it room for an additional 50,000 patient visits per year.

The majority of the new clinics will be filled with doctors and nurses new to The Everett Clinic although some staff will be moved within the system, Bissey said. To meet the staffing needs, the health-care provider has hired 142 people this year, Bissey said.

“We recognize there are a lot of health-care organizations in the Puget Sound region,” Bissey said. “But there is a lot of demand and there are a lot of areas where access to excellent primary care and excellent specialty care is really challenging. Our goal is to try meet that need.”

In September, The Everett Clinic announced plans to merge with DaVita HealthCare Partners. The merger is pending approval from Everett Clinic shareholders. That vote is scheduled for Dec. 20.