MONROE — Providence Medical Group has announced plans to open a new $22 million clinic in 2013.
Plans for the new clinic include 16 primary-care physicians, a walk-in clinic, a heart center and specialists.
The two-story Providence Health &Services. The Catholic health care system operates hospitals and clinics from California to Alaska, including Providence Regional Medical Center Everett.
This is Providence’s first major construction project in the county since last summer’s opening of a $460 million medical tower at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett.
The number of full-time primary care doctors at the Monroe clinic will increase by three, from 13, said Dr. Deb Nalty, medical director for Providence’s Monroe clinic.
There also will be a full-time cardiologist; orthopedist; ear, nose and throat doctor; podiatrist; and a physician who specializes in nonsurgical muscle and spine rehabilitation.
“A lot of our patients have to leave the community for specialty care now,” Nalty said. The goal is to increase the days and hours the specialists will be available to patients in Monroe, she said.
The clinic’s walk-in hours are also expected to expand, with longer hours on Saturday and plans to offer medical care on Sunday for the first time, she said.
Providence’s Monroe clinic is expected to increase its workforce from its current 45 full-time equivalents to as many as 81 five years after opening.
The number of patients treated at the clinic is projected to expand from the current 63,000 to 81,000 people in 2017.
The new clinic is not meant to compete with nearby Valley General Hospital, Nalty said.
Providence wants to be able to serve the growing east Snohomish County area so that residents can get the medical care they need without having to leave town, said Dave Brooks, chief executive of Providence Regional Medical Center Everett.
Valley General and Providence had previously discussed a partnership. But last August, Valley instead decided to pursue a deal with Capella Healthcare, a for-profit organization based in Tennessee.
That deal fizzled in April, in part because of Valley General’s continuing financial losses. The hospital lost more than $3 million last year.
Talks between Providence and Valley have resumed, “but at this point they’re just conversations,” Brooks said.
Providence Medical Group currently has nine primary care clinics in Snohomish County, including Lynnwood, Harbour Pointe and Mill Creek.
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