Cle Elum Urgent Care Center to open November 1

CLE ELUM, Wash. – In a positive step for medical care in Upper Kittitas County, the Cle Elum Urgent Care Center, a service of Kittitas Valley Community Hospital (KVCH) will open November 1. The center is located at 505 Power Street, Cle Elum (509-674-6944). Hours of operation will be from 5:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. This urgent care clinic is a joint project of Hospital Districts 1 and 2 and Cle Elum Family Medicine Center.

KVCH Administrator Eric Jensen said the Hospital District 1 and 2 boards and the Urgent Care Center Advisory Committee voted unanimously to open the clinic now pending a review decision from the State related to licensure of the Center as a provider-based clinic. Eventual licensure as a provider-based clinic will improve Medicare reimbursement paid to the urgent care center.

“We have the support of the boards and advisory committee even though we have not resolved all issues with the State Department of Health Construction Review uUnrelated to some specific facility-related requirements, none of which will impact services or the quality of care delivered in the urgent care center,” Jensen said.

The urgent care center will provide walk-in service for people in need of medical care including X-Ray and laboratory capabilities. Weekdays the center will be staffed by emergency department trained registered nurses. Additional staff on the weekends will include either a physician assistant (PA-C) or nurse practitioner. Rob Merkel, PA-C at Cle Elum Family Medicine, will staff the clinic beginning in November while KVCH continues to recruit for an additional PA-C. Physicians from Cle Elum Family Medicine Center will be on-call at all times and available within 30 minutes.

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