Community Health & Wellness
Hybrid ER-urgent care, opening this week in Bremerton, could ease strain on region’s medical care system
A combined emergency room and urgent care clinic that is expected to help address the Kitsap Peninsula’s growing demand for health care will start accepting patients this week, officials from Virginia Mason Franciscan Health announced during a ceremony on Feb. 26.
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Hailed as the first facility of its kind in the state, the dual purpose medical facility on Kitsap Way in Bremerton is expected to help address the shortage of urgent care facilities and reduce reliance on Franciscan emergency rooms in Gig Harbor and Silverdale.
Doctors and nurses at the clinic will triage patients into either the emergency department or urgent care depending on the severity of their condition. Officials say this will create a no-wrong-door approach, eliminate guesswork for patients and reduce medical costs.
An examination room at the new Virginia Mason Franciscan hybrid ER-urgent care on Kitsap Way in Bremerton.
Fully equipped
The facility will be open 24/7 and equipped like a standard emergency department, with labs, radiology, X-rays, a CT scanner and ambulance bay onsite. A company spokesperson was unable to immediately provide the number of physicians working there.
The new hybrid clinic comes to Bremerton through a partnership between VMFH and Intuitive Health, a Texas-based medical company that claims to have pioneered the dual ER-urgent care model. Since its founding in 2008 the company has built nearly 30 facilities across the country, according to its website.
Company CEO Thom Herrmann says the model is “a better way to provide care.” Even for those working in the medical field, it can be confusing to determine what conditions constitute an emergency, he said. The combined facility ensures patients received the right care without unnecessary bills.
This is the first of two facilities Intuitive plans to bring to Kitsap. A second hybrid facility is slated to open on VMFH’s South Kitsap Boulevard campus in Port Orchard later this year.
Both facilities, along with an expansion at the main campus of St. Michael in Silverdale and a MultiCare “neighborhood ER” in East Bremerton set to open this year, should alleviate pressure at overburdened emergency rooms in the region.
A CT scanner at the new hybrid emergency room/urgent care on Kitsap Way in Bremerton.
Overburdened ERs
Staffing shortages on the Kitsap Peninsula for primary and preventative care doctors have left residents with few places to seek treatment.
St. Anthony Hospital in Gig Harbor and St. Michael continue to report high use of its emergency departments. The pair of medical facilities saw more than 120,000 people last year, VMFH says. Past surveys have found more than half of those visits to SMMC are for low-acuity conditions that could be more effectively treated elsewhere.
Unnecessary emergency departments, a national challenge, can inundate the medical system, drive up patient bills and lead to worse patient outcomes. Emergency departments are the most expensive place to seek care and are not designed to provide follow-up treatment for those dealing with chronic conditions.
St. Michael President Chad Melton said the hospital continues to see over 200 patients a day in its emergency room. They know based on that demand they needed to create more access points in the community. The challenge has always been staffing, he said, something they hope the new team at the hybrid clinic will help ease.
“We are committed to listening to the community and responding to the greatest needs of our patients,” he said in a statement. “Today’s announcement is a great example of this work in action.”
Virginia Mason Franciscan Health’s Hybrid emergency room-urgent care clinic at 4270 Kitsap Way in Bremerton.