EDMONDS – The 8,000 patients of Family Care of Edmonds have a little more than a month to find a new medical home. The clinic, owned by Stevens Hospital, is closing June 30.
Letters are being sent to patients announcing the closure. A form is included so patients can indicate where they would like their medical records transferred. Family Care of Edmonds must receive the forms by June 15. Patients need to confirm that their new clinic accepts new patients and their health insurance plan.
The clinic’s current health care providers, Dr. Keith Luther, Dr. Stephen Carter and physician’s assistant Viviane DeValle, will go their separate ways.
Luther plans to join the Ballinger Clinic, Carter will join Edmonds Family Medicine and DeValle will join Harbour Pointe Family Practice in Mukilteo.
Of the clinic’s 12 other employees, 10 have confirmed that they have found new jobs and two are still looking, hospital spokeswoman Beth Engel said.
Many patients will be able to follow their doctors to their new clinics, but it’s up to each clinic to determine how many Family Care of Edmonds patients they accept, said Dr. John Todd, acting chief executive of Stevens Hospital.
For example, all of Carter’s current Medicaid patients will be accepted at Edmonds Family Medicine, said Marcy Shimada, clinic administrator. Medicare patients enrolled in Secure Horizons, a Medicare HMO, will be accepted, but “we’re unsure about regular Medicare,” she said. They will probably be served on a first-come, first-served basis.
The shutdown of Family Care of Edmonds follows a decision earlier this year by Luther, one of the two clinic physicians, to leave in protest over health insurance costs for clinic employees.
The clinic lost about $240,000 a year between 2001 and 2003, Engel said. The loses were due in part to the large number of Medicare and Medicaid patients the clinic cares for. Doctors say the state and federal government payments do not cover their costs.
In February, hospital officials said Family Care of Edmonds would be merged with Ballinger Clinic in Mountlake Terrace.
On Wednesday, Engel said the merger with Ballinger Clinic was considered, but physicians decided they would rather join individual clinics. Luther could not be reached for comment.
The closure of Family Care of Edmonds does not affect the other clinics operated by the hospital, Engel said. They include the Birth and Family Clinic in Edmonds; Harbour Pointe Family Practice; Stevens Center for Internal Medicine; Dr. Paul E. O’Brien, internist; Birth and Family Clinic; and Stevens Center for Internal Medicine.
Reporter Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486 or salyer@heraldnet.com.
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