New family medicine clinic in west Yakima expected to fill several needs - Yakima Herald-Republic

Several longtime obstetricians/gynecologists in the Yakima Valley have retired in recent years.

They include Drs. Kevin Harrington and Roger Rowles from Generations clinic in Yakima. Together, they delivered more than 22,000 babies and have nearly 80 years of collective experience.

Those retirements, and the continued demand of OB-GYN services, were among the factors driving the Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic to build a new family medicine clinic in west Yakima.

"These folks were icons," said YVFWC CEO Carlos Olivares about the retried providers. "As they leave, it was imperative we find solutions."

Last week, the Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic held a groundbreaking for the new 35,000-square-foot facility. The health care organization expects to open the new clinic — its ninth in Yakima — in the fall of 2022.

The clinic also aims to address another ongoing issue: the availability of primary care providers and services.

Olivares said the issue has been so pervasive that even those who work for the Yakima-based community health center have had problems finding a primary care provider.

"We have people who come to the community for the first time, and the biggest challenge is to find primary care services," Olivares said during a speech to attendees of last week's groundbreaking.

Once finished, the new clinic is expected to employ 50 people, including nine providers.

Among the new providers will be several specializing in OB/GYN. They will work at both the new facility and its clinic at the Lincoln Avenue Medical-Dental Center, which also provides family medicine and OB/GYN services.

Olivares said the new providers will onboard and work initially at the Lincoln clinic until the new clinic is complete.

Services clearly needed

The clinic has been in the works for about two years, Olivares said. After doing a population analysis, it was clear that OB/GYN services would be needed to serve a growing population of young women.

In addition, there has been a nationwide effort to improve health outcomes for mothers and children in rural areas.

YVFWC has been working with Colorado-based firm Neenan Archistruction on a design that will integrate the different services in the clinic — family medicine, OB/GYN services, laboratory and pharmacy — to provide seamless access and care. The clinic will have 27 exam rooms, two ultrasound rooms and four patient classrooms.

The clinic is on former orchard land. According to the Yakima County Assessor's Office, a nonprofit corporation called Agena purchased the property for $2.15 million in 2019. According to its corporate listing, Agena is described as a "charitable support organization for Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic."

The massive population growth of West Valley was a factor in site selection. However, YVFWC also wanted to remain accessible to its patients elsewhere in the Yakima Valley, Olivares said.

The site, which is in the city of Yakima but not far from West Valley, seemed like a reasonable compromise, he said.

The new facility will only take a portion of the nearly 10-acre site. Olivares said during the groundbreaking that the organization did not know what else would be built on the property but they wanted to partner with compatible organizations that would respect those on neighboring properties.

"We'll leave the land as is until we find the right partner," he said.

Astria buildings

Meanwhile, Hogback Development Co. posted recently about the former Astria Regional Medical Center and neighboring medical office building just west of downtown Yakima.

Hogback's lead developer, Chris Waddle, serves as the manager of a local investor group that now owns the buildings on West Chestnut Avenue between South Ninth and 11th avenues.

The development will be called the Rainier Medical Plaza and Surgical Center. In the post, Hogback posted a logo for the new development and a current photo of the buildings.

"This is the before. We can't wait to send you the after pics!!!" the post said.

Waddle, in an email, said there was not much more he could talk about beyond what is already posted.

In December, the local investment group purchased the hospital and medical office facility for $20 million, enabling Astria Health to pay down a considerable amount of its secured debt and putting it in a better financial position as it implemented its reorganization plan the following month.

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