Virginia Mason Franciscan Health Delivers on Its Mission to Expand Access to Care for Puget Sound Residents

July 9, 2024

Today, Virginia Mason Franciscan Health (VMFH) announced key milestones in its ongoing efforts to improve access and reduce cost of care for residents across the Puget Sound, especially those on the Kitsap Peninsula. Kitsap County’s population growth is outpacing Washington state averages, while there remains a shortage of primary care and specialty care providers in the area, presenting both a unique challenge and opportunity to better serve the community. 

To help address some of the community's most pressing needs, VMFH plans to open a hybrid Emergency Department (ED)/Urgent Care clinic in Port Orchard. This will be its second hybrid ED/urgent care clinic developed in partnership with Intuitive Health, with the first location currently under construction and set to open in Bremerton in early 2025. Combined, the two locations will drastically improve emergency/urgent care access from Gig Harbor to Silverdale and beyond. 

“This is a significant step in our ongoing efforts to improve access to needed care across Kitsap County and beyond to better serve our communities,” noted Ketul J. Patel, Chief Executive Officer of Virginia Mason Franciscan Health and President of CommonSpirit Health’s Northwest Region. “The hybrid ED/urgent care model is one great example of how we can improve our patient experience, getting patients to the right level of care while also reducing costs, and alleviating some strain on our hospitals." 

When a patient comes to the hybrid ED/urgent care clinic, they will be examined and triaged to the appropriate level of care, removing the burden for patients who may not know where to go. The facility will be staffed with emergency-trained physicians and nurses and fully equipped like a traditional hospital emergency department. Emergency Medical Services (EMS) can bring patients directly to the hybrid ED/urgent care facility, which will accommodate ambulances onsite. 

“By collaborating on innovative, community-based solutions, like the Port Orchard hybrid ED/urgent care clinic, we are able to expand access to care that best fits patient needs, while preserving hospital emergency department capacity for the most serious conditions and injuries,” noted Chad Melton, President at St. Michael Medical Center. 

Emergency Departments across the country continue to be over utilized. This impacts access to care for those who need emergency medicine services and increases costs for patients. St. Michael Medical Center, located in Silverdale and serving the Port Orchard community, is home to one of the busiest EDs in the state of Washington with more than 80,000 visits each year. 

Construction for the Port Orchard ED/urgent care (located at 450 S Kitsap Blvd, Port Orchard, WA 98366) is anticipated to begin this summer with completion in 2025. It will be open 24/7, equipped with onsite lab equipment and a radiology suite with X-ray and multi-slice CT scanners. Patients can also expect walk-in convenience and shorter wait times compared to a traditional emergency room visit.  

The Port Orchard hybrid ED/urgent care clinic is just one example of many investments by VMFH to better serve Kitsap County residents. Other examples of initiatives in progress to expand access to care include: 

• CARES (Community Assistance, Referral, and Education Service) Mobile Health Taskforce: St. Michael Medical Center is partnering with the Central Kitsap Fire & Rescue CARES programs by employing a mobile provider team to treat patients in the field, with the goal of reducing the need for non-emergency 911 calls, ED visits and hospital readmissions. 

• Behavioral Health Support: VMFH continues to collaborate with Kitsap Mental Health Services and has expanded options for virtual behavioral health services through Concert and Quartet Health.

• Future Workforce Growth: Through an expanded partnership with Olympic College, VMFH is supporting workforce development programs to build a future diverse pipeline of students interested in a health care career. 

• Primary Care Development: The VMFH Family Medicine Clinic in Bremerton has expanded access to primary care, and its Family Medicine Residency Program trains 24 family medicine residents, with eight graduates, per year. 

• Hospital Capacity: St. Michael Medical Center is currently building a new patient tower that will house 74 additional acute care beds to be completed in fall 2025. 

While there remains much work to be done, VMFH is proud to continue addressing the unique needs of each community it serves. More information on efforts specific to Kitsap County can be found in the St. Michael Medical Center Community Health Needs Assessment. 

“We have proudly served this community for more than 105 years,” noted Chad Melton, St. Michael Medical Center President. “We don’t just work here, most of us also live here and know firsthand how unique our history is and how much has changed over the last several years. We’re excited to be an integral part of shaping the future of Kitsap and beyond.” 

About Virginia Mason Franciscan Health

Virginia Mason Franciscan Health (VMFH) is an integrated health system serving the Puget Sound region, including 10 hospitals and 300 care sites. Founded in 1891, VMFH embraces its long history of caring for the most vulnerable, especially the poor and underserved, and meeting the evolving health care needs of the vibrant, diverse communities it serves. VMFH is a proud home to the Bailey-Boushay House, the first skilled nursing and outpatient chronic care management program in the United States designed specifically to meet the needs of people with HIV/AIDS, and the Benaroya Research Institute, an internationally recognized institution for autoimmune disease research. VMFH is part of CommonSpirit, one of the nation’s largest health systems, dedicated to advancing health for all people.