Confluence set to make big investment in Moses Lake

MOSES LAKE — With the rising demand for health care in Grant County, Confluence Health is set to add significantly to its presence in Moses Lake with a new medical building, additional medical providers and a new radiation oncology center.

“Confluence Health has been a part of Grant County health care for 40 years now, and it’s an important piece of Confluence Health,” said Pete Rutherford, CEO of Confluence Health.

The organization, which runs Grant County clinics in Ephrata, Moses Lake and Royal City, is planning to build a 25,000- to 35,000-square-foot medical building on seven acres near Yonezawa Boulevard and Clover Drive not far from the Lowe’s to improve its specialty outreach in the county.

Rutherford said it was important to be able to serve people close to where they live because it is a lot to ask sick people to travel up to an hour and a half from Moses Lake to Wenatchee.

“We’ll do our care locally if it’s safe and cost effective,” Rutherford said.

Rutherford said there was no formal timeline on construction of the new building, though he hoped work could begin in 2019 and should take “less than a year.” He also said a rough estimate of the new facility’s cost is about $15 million.

“It’s still in flux, and we don’t know,” he said.

Rutherford also said Confluence is working hard to recruit more primary care physicians, physicians’ assistants, nurse practitioners and specialists to help improve access to health care in the region and reduce wait times.

“The demand for services is increasing, and we’re out of space in the Moses Lake Clinic,” he said. “We need additional space. The current Moses Lake Clinic is large, but quite full.”

According to Stuart Freed, chief medical officer for Confluence, the new medical facility will give Confluence patients easy access to Samaritan Hospital and should be “not too bad of a commute” for those who live outside Moses Lake.

Confluence, along with the Columbia Basin Cancer Foundation, is also preparing to launch a fundraising campaign for a $7 million radiation oncology treatment center. The company hopes to raise $3.5 million for the facility, which will be located at the Moses Lake Clinic, allowing cancer patients to receive radiation treatments locally.

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached via email at countygvt@columbiabasinherald.com.