Wash. Urgent Care Expands Size, Scope and Hours

BREMERTON, Wash. — These are busy times for Harrison Medical Center in northwest Washington. Harrison’s Port Orchard location now offers urgent care services 16 hours a day — an increase from its previous 12 hours — as well as primary care services. In January 2009, a new medical building will be completed on the Port Orchard site and will be linked with the existing renovated facility. Urgent care operations then will expand to 24 hours a day.

Harrison is a not-for-profit organization with three campuses — Bremerton, Silverdale, and Port Orchard — and a fourth set to open in Belfair in April 2009.

Harrison’s new Belfair facility will open and provide12-hour-a-day urgent care, along with primary care. This new clinic will provide much-needed services to Belfair residents and its surrounding small communities, according to the Harrison Web site.

So far the arrangement is working well, according to Chris Hunt RN, MBA, BC, operations manager of primary and urgent care services for Harrison Medical Center.

“The advantages to 24/7 urgent care is that the community does not have to think about whether or not we are open,” Hunt said. “They know they can come anytime to be seen.

It also provides a late-night alternative to the ER, which as any parent of a small child can tell you, is highly appreciated.”

Hunt’s colleagues don’t see injuries or illnesses at night and in the early morning that are much different than what they saw during their 12-hour business day.

“We see patterns typical of other urgent or emergency care centers,” he said. “Anything from coughs and colds to chest pain to lacerations.”

Before expanding hours, due diligence must be preformed.

“We are fortunate to have some very smart people in our organization who conducted a detailed analysis and formulated a comprehensive business plan,” Hunt said. “They looked at demographics, patterns of usage, financials, staffing plans, benchmark data, and numerous other factors and variables that could potentially impact operations. As with any business venture, one should always make sure to do your homework and spend that extra time and energy up front to ensure your efforts are worthwhile.”

The expanded Port Orchard urgent care center that will open this spring will operate 24 hours a day. That is a big benefit to the community, but is no easy feat for a healthcare staff.

“A disadvantage to the 24/7 model is the increased financial burden,” Hunt said. “Providing a full staff with full services is very expensive, but we feel the commitment to our community is a worthy investment.”

The project involved a sell-and-lease partnership. Harrison sold the six-acre Port Orchard campus and existing medical building to a local company, Tim Ryan Properties. Harrison now leases both the existing and new 32,000-square-foot medical buildings on the campus.

“This model of selling and leasing back frees several millions of dollars that we can reinvest in more healthcare services, further fulfilling our mission to provide exceptional medical care to our communities,” said Harrison President and CEO Scott Bosch.

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