Aiming to serve a growing east Clark County population, The Vancouver Clinic is opening its newest primary care facility in Washougal.
The doctor-owned clinic, which has served Southwest Washington since 1936, will celebrate the opening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 7:30 a.m. Monday at 291 C St. Washougal Mayor Sean Guard is expected to attend. The public is invited to join the festivities, too.
The 1,600-square-foot facility was built for $350,000 at The Crossing, a shopping center off state Highway 14 that includes a Starbucks and a Quiznos.
Leaders of The Vancouver Clinic said the new facility will serve Washougal and Camas residents, with a focus on family medicine and services provided on a flexible schedule.
“This is really an opportunity to bring that care closer to people’s homes and especially for those patients that travel across to the Portland area for their jobs,” said Tom Sanchez, director of clinical operations for The Vancouver Clinic.
Dr. Alfred Seekamp, medical director for the organization, said the new Washougal office will offer services in a way that matches the work schedules of busy commuters.
To that end, the clinic’s hours will run from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays. Many people want extended hours “because of what works best for their family,” Seekamp said. “It’s hard these days to get time away from work.”
“We want to provide services that provide a continuity of care,” he added. “We want people to be able to see their own doctors during hours that are nontraditional.”
The clinic, which will offer laboratory testing and radiology testing among its services, will be staffed by four doctors. Dr. Christine Norton will serve there full time. The other three Drs. Andrea Drown, Jessica Holzman and Siyavash Mohandessi will work there on a part-time basis.
They will see patients by appointment. Walk-in patients are welcome, too.
The opening of the Washougal clinic is the latest illustration of The Vancouver Clinic’s growth. Last year, the health care company, which employs about 1,000 people, opened a $12 million, 48,000-square-foot clinic in Battle Ground.
The Vancouver Clinic expanded into Battle Ground to provide medical services to one of the fastest-growing areas of Clark County.
Aaron Corvin: http://twitter.com/col_econ; http://on.fb.me/AaronCorvin; 360-735-4518; aaron.corvin@columbian.com.
