VA Puget Sound Health Care System announces four new care facilities
PRESS RELEASE
December 4, 2020
Seattle , WA — VA Puget Sound Health Care System announced today the groundbreaking of its new $10 million, 26,000 sq. ft. Community Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) in Everett which is expected to open its doors to Veterans in late 2021 and its plans to open three micro-clinics (Edmonds, Olympia and Puyallup).
“A new community-based outpatient clinic in Everett will bring quality, accessible health care and services closer to roughly 8,000 North Sound Veterans,” said Rep. Rick Larsen (WA-02), a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee. “Thank you to the local veterans, community stakeholders and VA Puget Sound Health Care System leadership who are working hard to make this clinic a reality.”
Much like its Silverdale CBOC, the Everett CBOC (220 Olympic Boulevard) will be designed with its Patient Aligned Care Teams at the heart of the facility, allowing for interdisciplinary consultation and patient care. Services will include comprehensive primary care and some specialty care at our Everett CBOC. Services will include primary care, physical therapy, occupational therapy, diagnostic imaging (MRI, ultrasound, Echo and CT), social work, mental health, nutrition, pharmacy specialist, and readjustment counseling services.
“Purple Heart Heroes LLC is extremely pleased to be partnering VA Puget Sound Health Care System to develop the Everett CBOC to provide our Veterans access to meet their health care needs,” said PHH President Zachariah Gore.
Services at the micro-clinics will include primary care (in-clinic and home-based), mental health, social work, pharmacy, telemedicine and nutrition.
To support this change, VA Puget Sound will not be renewing its contract with Valor Healthcare and will be closing clinics in Lake City, Federal Way and Bellevue January 31, 2021. During the period from February 1, 2021 through the opening of the micro-clinics, VA Puget Sound will have virtual teams with primary care, social work, pharmacy, nutrition and mental health ready to go for Veterans who received care at one of the three Valor Healthcare clinics. Additionally, the VA Puget Sound team is reaching out to Veterans to ensure a smooth coordination of care. Critical care will also be coordinated by VA or supported within the community.
“The new care facilities are further proof of VA Puget Sound’s commitment to expanding primary care locations to make getting care easier for our 155,000 enrolled Veterans across Western Washington,” said VA Puget Sound Director Michael Tadych. “What’s more, the expanded primary care services are designed to complement the community care options already available to Veterans under the MISSION Act.”
The new facilities will be able to enroll approximately 17,000 to 19,000 eligible Veterans. Of that total, 6,000 to 8,000 patients will be able to receive primary care at its Everett CBOC (with potential capacity of 12,000 based on future patient demand) and approximately 11,000 across the three micro-clinics.
VA Puget Sound has experienced a 60 percent growth in unique population in last 10 years while space essentially remained unchanged. To address the space constraints and better serve Veterans where they are geographically located, it continues with facility renovations and new construction projects across its catchment area—$121 million Mental Health and Research Building in Seattle (March 2019); $9.7 million, 15,000-square-foot Silverdale CBOC (December 2019) that replaced its clinic in Bremerton; and $4.3 million, 14,000 sq. ft. Community Resource and Referral Center in Georgetown (December 2019). Additionally, it continues renovations to its American Lake campus to support expanded primary care, while optimizing its specialty care programs and services.
Patients interested in seeking care at any of the VA Puget Sound sites should call 253-582-8440, extension 71234.
VA Puget Sound provides comprehensive care to more than 155,000 Veterans enrolled at one of its ten facilities in the Pacific Northwest (two divisions in Seattle and Tacoma; seven Community Based Outpatient Clinics in Bellevue, Chehalis, Federal Way, Mount Vernon, Port Angeles, North Seattle, Silverdale and South Sound; and the Community Resource and Referral Center). As the VA’s 5th largest research program, VA Puget Sound has research in virtually every major clinical department, including: TBI and multiple blast exposures; memory improvement and Alzheimer's Disease; PTSD and deployment health; Parkinson’s Disease, diabetes; cancer; substance abuse; lower limb prosthetics; genomics; and Health Services. Additionally, it has seven nationally recognized Centers of Excellence (in areas from limb-loss prevention and prosthetic engineering to primary care education and substance abuse treatment). For more information visit www.pugetsound.va.gov.