Remodeling to continue at Samaritan Clinic

MOSES LAKE — The final remodeling project at Samaritan Clinic on Pioneer Way will begin by the end of March, and another project is at the very beginning of the planning stages: Samaritan Healthcare officials are talking about expanding Samaritan’s Patton Clinic.

Samaritan’s project at its Pioneer Way clinic is in the final phase of remodeling that began in 2019. Joe Kunkel, a consultant working with the hospital on its construction projects, said the total cost will be $1,898,658.

The third phase was approved when the whole project was approved in early 2019, Kunkel said. “We just didn’t pull the trigger on funding the construction. We said we were going to do that this year, depending on how the others (the first two phases) went, and see how we were doing with our budget, how we were doing with provider recruitment. And here’s where we are.”

The remodeling will relocate all family medicine and internal medicine practitioners to the first floor, Kunkel said. Chief administrative officer Alex Town said that would open up space on the second and third floors for specialist physicians.

Kunkel said construction would begin about March 25, with Sept. 4 as the expected completion date.

Commissioner Dale Paris asked how much room would be available on the second floor once the remodeling was done. Town said three offices would be empty, but all of them have prospective tenants.

Commissioners also discussed a project at another clinic, called the Patton Clinic, though the address is 8420 Aspi Blvd., near Patton Boulevard on the north end of Moses Lake. Kunkel told commissioners there’s no date and, as of now, no finished plan for expansion of the Patton Clinic. “All we’re doing right now is doing some planning work,” he said, “to set the stage for when you want to pull the trigger and take up the rest of that Patton building.”

Commissioners approved spending $13,328 for the planning work.

Currently the Patton Clinic houses an urgent care clinic and a family medicine practice. The hospital rents and occupies three of the seven suites in the building. Hospital officials are thinking about expanding the family medicine practice and adding an occupational medicine practice.

“You will have the initial planning work done of who’s going where, and what the general layout would look like,” Kunkel said. Hospital officials are considering using the three suites currently leased by Samaritan for the family medicine practice. The two middle suites would host the urgent care clinic, and the last two suites would house the occupational medicine practice.

“The other tenants in that building will be leaving?” asked Commissioner Alan White.

“Yes,” Town said. Hospital officials have talked with the building’s other tenants about the prospective plans, he said.

Once commissioners decide to move forward with the project, Kunkel said, construction should take about nine months.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at [email protected].