New Everett clinic brings Seattle Children’s Hospital closer

EVERETT — The new Seattle Children’s North Clinic, which replaces two smaller offices in Everett and Mill Creek, opens today at 1815 13th St.

The 37,000-square-foot clinic offers 10 medical services new to the region and, for some parents, an extra hour or two of sleep.

The clinic’s expanded medical care is expected to reduce outpatient visits to the Seattle Children’s Hospital main campus.

The $28 million regional clinic, near Providence Regional Medical Center Everett’s Colby campus, is intended to serve patients from the Canadian border to Shoreline.

Jennifer Campbell, an Everett mother of four, is looking forward to hitting the snooze button.

Multiple times a month, Campbell has risen at 6:30 a.m., bundled up the kids and hit rush hour traffic to drive her 6-year-old daughter, Hannah, to appointments in Seattle.

Hannah received a heart transplant at 4 months old after doctors discovered a rare and often fatal heart defect. In the years since, Campbell has logged hundreds of medical trips to Seattle.

In the past two years, the trips have become less frequent. Still, Campbell and her daughter face a hectic monthly outing for “a five-minute blood draw,” she said.

Beginning this month, Hannah’s special blood draw can be performed just 10 minutes from her home.

The new clinic will provide “world-class care closer to home,” said David Stolte, director of North Sound Regional Clinics.

“Families will no longer have to choose between getting pediatric-focused care and convenience,” Stolte said. “We’ll be located where patients and families need us, in their community.”

Outpatient specialty services will be similar to what is available at the hospital’s main campus, Stolte said.

Children’s North anticipates more than 26,000 patient visits over the next 12 months, up from about 12,000 annual visits at the former Everett and Mill Creek clinics. Both locations closed Friday.

New treatments and services that weren’t previously available in Snohomish County include audiology, cardiology, rehabilitation and sports therapy. Children’s North also will offer an urgent-care clinic and an imaging center.

Also new: a play room that provides patients and their siblings a supervised place to unwind, so their parents can relax or focus.

At a sneak preview last week for parents and patients, Hannah gave a thumbs-up to the clinic’s kid-friendly examination rooms, spacious gym, play area and color scheme — muted, fog-colored walls and murals in blues and greens.

“It’s awesome,” she said. “I like it because it has a lab and most of the stuff they have in Seattle. So, yeah, I like it!”

An open house is planned from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sept. 15.

The clinic’s regular hours are 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. Urgent care, intended for minor illnesses and injuries, is available 5 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. weekdays and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekends.

Ground-level and underground parking is available.

For more information, go to www.seattlechildrens.org/northclinic.

Janice Podsada: jpodsada@heraldnet.com; 425-339-3097; Twitter: @JanicePods