New Everett Clinic branches opening in north Snohomish County

ARLINGTON — In front of a crowd of about 200 people, Dr. Imelda Dacones cut the ribbon this week for a shiny new Everett Clinic in Arlington.

The 39,500-square-foot facility, at 4011 172nd St. NE, houses 50 specialty exam rooms and a surgery center.

Dacones, market president for Optum Washington, told the crowd this new clinic is “part of a legacy, for the next 100 years to come, with your support.” The Everett Clinic has 31 locations in the region.

Arlington Mayor Barbara Tolbert thanked workers who made the clinic possible, but especially the new clinic’s staff.

“If we know nothing about what happened in the last few years, we know that health care is a foundational industry in our communities,” Tolbert said. “And we really rely on them.”

In addition to two operating rooms, an endoscopy suite, X-ray and lab services, the clinic offers the following specialties: ear/nose/throat, gastroenterology, OB/GYN, ophthalmology, optometry, orthopedics, physiatry, podiatry, urology, and hand surgery and therapy.

At full capacity, the new clinic will have the equivalent of over 80 full-time staff responsible for nearly 300 patients per day. State-of-the art equipment includes sterile supply processing and an “enhanced procedure room.”

With the official opening yesterday, some services will transfer from the nearby Smokey Point Clinic, making room there for more primary care, cardiology and dermatology, Dacones said.

As Optum continues to expand The Everett Clinic network, she said the goal is to build out facilities and services so patients can drive to primary care within about 15 minutes, and specialty care in 30 minutes.

Optum wants to expand the ability to provide “value-based care” in two different ways.

“Capital V” Value means how the price paid for the service lines up with patient experience and outcomes. For example, having a procedure like a spinal injection outside of the hospital is typically cheaper.

The other is “little v” value-based, or a “capitated” model, where providers are paid per patient, for example, rather than per service. Wrapping primary, specialty, ambulatory surgical and diagnostic care into the same “integrated” system helps enable that type of payment model.

Optum will open another multi-specialty clinic this spring in Marysville, with behavioral health, psychiatry and physical therapy services, to name a few.

We will continue to report on access to health care. If you have faced barriers to accessing timely, convenient or affordable care in Snohomish County, please fill out this brief form: forms.gle/y5HH5zLpThkG1BXH7

Joy Borkholder: 425-339-3430; joy.borkholder@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @jlbinvestigates.