Jefferson Healthcare is set to open a new clinic Feb. 5 next door to the Emergency Department in the hospital’s new Emergency Services and Specialty Building (ESSB). The goal of the clinic is to serve those who are not established patients within the Jefferson Healthcare system.

The ESSB is located at 834 Sheridan St. in Port Townsend.

The new Express Clinic, which is to serve those with non-emergency medical needs, is part of the overall plan for Jefferson Healthcare to meet growing medical demands, said Jefferson Healthcare spokesperson Amy Yaley.

The new clinic’s hours are 10 a.m.-8 p.m. daily. A green door marks the entrance to the clinic.

A clinic that had previously served as a walk-in clinic, also for non-emergency medical issues, next door to the hospital, is now to be a space for Dr. Stephen Erickson’s practice, and a new physician is to join him there, Yaley said.

Seven new providers have been hired by the health care system in an effort to improve service, she said.

“With all these added providers, we’re urging people to call their primary care physician first,” Yaley said of established patients.

In the past, some patients with non-emergency health issues could not get in to see their primary physicians immediately. Yaley said the hope is that those who have established themselves with a provider can now see that provider first and not need to go to the Express Clinic.

The Express Clinic is to provide same-day services and treatment for minor illnesses, injuries, infections and allergies.

“We are excited about the Express Clinic for our community; demand for services has been growing at such a high rate, we have struggled to serve our community efficiently,” said Mary Feeney, director of the Emergency Department and the Express Clinic, in a press release.

The Jefferson Healthcare Express Clinic provides services on a first-come, first-served basis and is to be staffed with three new providers, one registered nurse and one technician, the release states.

Services in the clinic are billed at the same rate as services in the primary care clinic, according to the release.

Those seeking care do not need to be an established patient to be seen at the Express Clinic.