On Oct. 20, The Vancouver Clinic opened a brand new clinic at 4500 SE Columbia Palisades Drive, in Camas. The two-story, 26,400-square-foot clinic is the 10th clinic location in Clark County for The Vancouver Clinic, and offers internal medicine, family medicine, pediatrics, urgent care, ophthalmology and a vision center. The clinic was completed five weeks ahead of schedule, and the Vancouver Business Journal caught up with Vancouver Clinic CEO Mark Mantei to hear about some of the services the new Camas clinic offers.
VBJ: Compared to all of the other Vancouver Clinics in the area, how does this new one compare in size, accessibility, equipment, technology, etc.?
Mark Mantei: Our newly constructed clinic at 4500 SE Columbia Palisades Drive, Camas (off SE 192nd Avenue, SR 14 exit 10) is a two-story, 26,400-square-foot clinic. It offers internal medicine, family medicine, pediatrics, urgent care with lab and imaging capabilities, ophthalmology and a vision center for eye exams plus hundreds of stylish frames. It is larger than the Ridgefield location we opened last year which is one-story. Camas has a similar design as Ridgefield with centralized check-in, patient privacy hallways and clinical team pods for collaboration. At Ridgefield, the Vision Center is located across the street at Heron Gate. In Camas, the Vision Center is on the second floor with expansive views and lots of natural light. Since we were unable to do a big grand opening event, we created a beautiful virtual tour video at tvc.org/camas so you can have a look inside and meet some of the providers who will work at this location.
VBJ: I see that most of the providers who will be at this new clinic are new hires. How many new providers did you hire for this new location? How many staff total did you hire?
Mantei: We hired nine providers and 33 staff positions for this location.
VBJ: This location is the Vancouver Clinic’s sixth location with a dedicated urgent care. What criteria do you use to decide if a location is going to be one that has a dedicated urgent care or not?
Mantei: Vancouver Clinic has placed Urgent Care locations based on projected growth of Clark County to meet patient demand. Urgent Care opens at 7 a.m., seven days a week and only closes on Christmas and New Year’s. Urgent Care is fast, same-day attention for urgent medical needs. When you have a condition that requires prompt care, but is not a serious health threat, Urgent Care offers an alternative to waiting for hours in a hospital emergency department.
VBJ: Are there any specialties not offered at this clinic that are offered at other Vancouver Clinic locations?
Mantei: Yes, we offer 40+ specialties – many of which are not offered at our Camas location. In 2020, we’ve added 49 providers across all of our clinics and continue to expand services to meet the medical needs of our community. Our Camas location focuses on primary care, urgent care and vision services.
VBJ: The project (Camas clinic) finished ahead of schedule and under budget. What was the original projected budget for this project? What did the actual project cost end up being?
Mantei: The budget for the construction cost was $18.5 million and the building was delivered almost five weeks earlier than projected. We are closing out final contracts and anticipate the total project cost coming in below budget.
VBJ: What factors do you think ultimately made it possible for the project (Camas clinic) to be completed ahead of schedule?
Mantei: Multiple factors contributed to the project opening ahead of schedule. Vancouver Clinic intentionally invested in a unique LEAN Design process and a collaborative design-build project delivery method. These early investments up front in bringing a quality consulting team to work with program stakeholders yielded multiple positive results for innovation of design, as well as for efficiency of construction in the field. The trust and transparency developed between DAY CPM, our project managers, Andersen Construction, ZGF Architects and our internal stakeholders helped to minimize change orders, ensure compliance with program goals, while leveraging relationship and project coordination so that when unique risks surfaced with the pandemic, the team more nimbly adapted their way of working. It absolutely contributed to how they navigated the construction of the project, while still honoring safety protocols and delivering on project objectives. As a result, we are open five weeks earlier than intended and are under budget.
VBJ: Is there any new and exciting technology at this new clinic that may not be available at other Vancouver Clinic locations?
Mantei: Like Ridgefield, this clinic offers patients welcome tablets to bypass the registration desk and self-check in when arriving for appointments with an e-check in bar code. Because of COVID-19 we do still require everyone entering the building to stop at the desk to have their temperature taken. Upstairs in optical, we also have a kiosk for walk-in scheduling with the optician who can support selection among our hundreds of frames – including many designer options – and ordering of contact lenses. One exciting technology used back in the clinical spaces at Camas is integrated vitals. This saves our clinical staff time previously spent manually entering data into our EHR, the patient’s electronic medical record. It also improves accuracy and reduces associated errors that can occur.
VBJ: In general, what are some of the new protocols/precautions at all of the Vancouver Clinic locations since we are still in the middle of a pandemic?
Mantei: Visitor Policy: For the safety of patients, visitors and staff, Vancouver Clinic asks that you bring only one person with you to your appointment and only if it is necessary. A support person must be in good health (no fever, sneezing, coughing, or runny nose), and be at least 16 years or older. Infants under 6 months of age will be permitted two adult support people.
Mask Policy: Vancouver Clinic requires masks. We will provide a medical grade mask when you enter the clinic. This is for your safety and the health of our care team, other patients and our community. If you are unable to wear a mask due to medical reasons, a video visit should be considered as an alternative to keep you and others safe. Patients who receive a provider exemption, who are unable to wear a mask for medical reasons, will be asked to wear a face shield and scheduled as the last patient of the day, if a video visit is not an option. Anyone who needs lab or imaging services and who is unable to wear a mask should come near clinic closing and will also be asked to wear a face shield.
Option to stay home while getting the care you need: At Vancouver Clinic, we are dedicated to providing expert medical help and keeping our community healthy. To better support our patients, we are now offering video visits with many of our providers.To schedule a video visit, patients must have:A Vancouver Clinic MyChart Account; Access to a phone, laptop, or tablet with a camera and mic; An existing relationship with the provider (except for Urgent Care).
