During this past winter, amid a busy flu season, Yakima Valley Urgent Care was full of activity.
The urgent care clinic in Union Gap, a sister location to Kittitas Valley Urgent Care, opened just a few months earlier. President and owner David Wood saw another opportunity to expand. In January, he started work on opening a second location of Yakima Valley Urgent Care in West Valley.
Visitors to urgent care clinics, like Yakima Valley Urgent Care, have increased as the Yakima Valley continues to have a shortage of primary care providers and some clinics have closed. Some medical providers, such as Virginia Mason Memorial, have both primary care and urgent care clinics to meet patient needs.
“We were at capacity this winter, during the cold and flu season,” Wood said. “We realized a lot of the patients we saw were coming from West Valley. We listened to our patients and decided this would be a good location for us to open.”
Then COVID-19 hit the Yakima Valley, and suddenly Wood’s focus was on keeping things going in his existing clinic.
“Our volume was close to 65% lower than it would have been that time of year,” said Wood, a physician assistant, about the Union Gap clinic’s volume in April and May. “I think people were afraid to go into medical clinics because of COVID-19.”
Focus shifted to serving patients anxious about leaving home.
The clinic provided telemedicine services — including a free consultation with any of the clinic’s providers.
For those who needed to visit the clinic, Yakima Valley Urgent Care started offering an at-home registration process where patients could register and fill out information through a computer or mobile device and then immediately go to a provider. This process virtually eliminated the need to sit in a waiting room and minimized the patient’s contact with others.
“Everyone’s trying to figure out what’s the new norm,” Wood said. “Urgent care is no exception. We’re just trying to meet the needs of the patients.”
There was still a need, it turned out, in West Valley. Last month, Wood was finally able to open the new location of Yakima Valley Urgent Care.
Just weeks after opening, Wood said he’s already starting to see substantial patient numbers. On Monday of last week, it saw 20 patients in a single day, a record. Wood said a dozen patients a day for urgent care clinics nationwide is typical.
Pent-up demand for care, namely people waiting to get services because of safety concerns and just the general need for additional medical services, likely drove patient interest in the new clinic, Wood said.
The closure of the Astria Health Center primary and specialty clinics in West Yakima also likely contributed to additional demand, he said.
Clinic numbers aren’t quite back to normal at the Union Gap clinic. Wood estimates he’s down 20% of normal levels. The Kittitas Valley Urgent Care clinic is down by even more, 50%.
COVID-19 care
Wood said he has continuing to work on ways to put patients at ease and minimize contact between patients and between patients and staff. For one, Wood has made a point to find a way to separate those with COVID-19 symptoms.
COVID-19 tests are done primarily in the Union Gap clinic and only during limited hours each day. All tests are done curbside — certain spots in front of the clinic are designed for those seeking testing.
If a patient at the West Valley clinic turns out to have COVID-19 symptoms, the provider dons additional personal protective equipment, including an N-95 mask, gown and gloves, to test the patient. The room is then closed for at least an hour to be cleaned.
So far, one staff member has tested positive for COVID-19. All staff members who were in contact with the positive case or may have worked in the same areas were tested. All tested negative.
Wood is in the process of setting up point-of-care COVID-19 testing. With these tests, patients get the results in 15 minutes.
Wood has been working on setting up a point-of-care testing station since March. He received the diagnostic machine a few weeks ago and is in the process of securing tests from one of the clinic’s vendors.
This offering will be crucial in the months to come, he said.
“That’s, moving into fall, the key piece to be able to handle the cold and flu season with COVID-19,” Wood said.
"urgent" - Google News
August 09, 2020 at 05:00PM
https://ift.tt/3gJcOXB
Yakima Valley Urgent Care adjusts and expands under COVID-19 pandemic - Yakima Herald-Republic
"urgent" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2ya063o
https://ift.tt/3d7MC6X
urgent
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Yakima Valley Urgent Care adjusts and expands under COVID-19 pandemic - Yakima Herald-Republic"
Post a Comment