EVERETT — EvergreenHealth Monroe plans to open a new primary care and urgent care location in Snohomish by the end of the year.
The hospital system has leased the property at 1115 13th Street, formerly a Bartell Drugs. Many Bartell Drugs locations closed last year after its parent company, Rite Aid, filed for bankruptcy.
EvergreenHealth Monroe — which includes Snohomish County Hospital District No. 1 — has been eyeing a Snohomish location for more than a decade, Chief Administrative Officer Lisa LaPlante said.
“We see it really as our responsibility to continually look at how we can increase access, increase our services and increase the care that we provide to our communities,” she said. “Our elected board, really since the day I started here in 2010, has said Snohomish is one of the biggest parts of our district, and we don’t have a presence there.”
The system had been looking at various buildings for sale in Snohomish and even started looking at buying land, which would have taken a long time to build into a fully formed clinic, LaPlante said.
“When the Bartells was shutting down, we saw that as the perfect opportunity,” she said. “We’re beyond excited.”
With more than 14,000 square feet, the new location will have lab draw services, X-ray exams and mammography. EvergreenHealth Monroe expects the location to have about eight primary care providers and five urgent care providers. In total, it estimates 30 exam rooms.
EvergreenHealth Monroe is looking at ways to bring services to the new location before it officially opens, including bringing in a mammography coach, LaPlante said.
The system doesn’t yet have an estimated total cost for the project, LaPlante said. The lease is for the next 10 years with three additional five-year options to extend.
Over the past three years, the system’s Monroe location has significantly expanded. In 2022, it opened an urgent care facility. Since then, it’s added cardiology, neurology, urology, and ear, nose and throat services. Last year, EvergreenHealth Monroe bought a nearby outpatient building for $24.6 million.
“We are their community hospital, and we’re here to serve them,” LaPlante said. “We’re not a big, national company that might leave in a year or two. We are dedicated to our community, we’re here to serve our community and I hope people can trust in that and use our services if they haven’t before.”
Jenna Peterson: 425-339-3486; jenna.peterson@heraldnet.com; X: @jennarpetersonn.
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