PORT TOWNSEND – A proposal for an urgent care fast track clinic within the emergency department at Jefferson Healthcare hospital is expected to go before the hospital commission next year.
Such an addition, said Bob Campbell, Jefferson Healthcare associate administrator and strategic developer, would cut waiting time for patients while providing more affordable medical care.
“The drive of this is to provide quality care and move patients through more quickly and cost effectively,” Campbell said Wednesday.
He is developing an analysis of the proposal to present to the hospital commission sometime in February.
Jefferson Healthcare Chief Operating Officer Paula Dowdle said construction could begin as early as this summer.
A storage area adjacent to the emergency room waiting area would be turned into a clinic with three rooms where physicians would see patients.
Campbell estimated construction cost as between $100,000 and $200,000.
To staff the urgent care clinic, three additional full-time nurses and one physician assistant would be needed.
That would amount to about $350,000 for the additional staffing.
