JHC clinic in Ludlow delayed

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A new 4,370-square-foot health care clinic for Port Ludlow, a joint venture between Jefferson Healthcare and Port Ludlow Associates (PLA), is progressing slower than anticipated.

Jefferson Healthcare CEO Mike Glenn originally had hoped to move into the clinic by the first part of this year and now hopes for a grand-opening celebration in mid-July and a move-in date of Aug. 14.

“The clinic will be completed and turned over to us by mid-July,” Glenn said. “We will move in furniture and furnishings, set up configure computers, and prepare for opening the clinic and an Epic [electronic medical records system] go live,” he said.

Glenn said the clinic opening coincides with a specific time set aside by Providence Health to provide assistance with the Epic system.

As for the delay in construction of the clinic, Glenn noted that PLA, and not the health care system, is responsible for the construction of the building.

“We are not constructing the building and therefore are not concerned with/responsible for cost over runs related to schedule,” Glenn wrote earlier this month. “We are merely tenants with a lease agreement … waiting patiently for the building to conclude.”

Glenn added that the process of having someone else building a facility, “has been instructive.”

Shannon Meyers, director of marketing for Port Ludlow Associates, said in an email the project should be completed by midsummer.

“The build schedule has been a bit longer than expected due to contractor availability and material procurement challenges. All tenant improvements have been designed to meet the client’s budget at this time,” she wrote.

Last October Diana Smeland, president of PLA, said that there had been a labor shortage and “scheduling continues to be a global conversation.”

She said the builders are from Jefferson and Kitsap counties and that most of them are owner operated with small crews and that delays have, in part, been scheduled.

She also referred to changes in design and materials that needed to be reviewed and noted that because it is a medical office, changes needed to be approved by the state Department of Health. “We cannot make substitutions without seeking approval,” Smeland said at the time.

There had been hopes that the project could be done by the end of 2016 with a move-in date closer to the first quarter of the year, not the third quarter.

The new facility is to house six exam rooms, a procedure room, a consultation office, a lab draw station and have X-ray services.

The new clinic is on the north corner of Paradise Bay Road and Breaker Lane, across the street from the Kitsap Bank.

SPECIALTY CLINIC

The hospital still has a lease on a 2,300-square-foot clinic at 9481 Oak Bay Road.

Glenn said that clinic space is to be repurposed to become Ludlow Specialty Clinic, with specialists to include Dr. Claire Haycox, a dermatologist who practiced in Sequim for 15 years before selling her practice and relocating to Florida.

Glenn said she is joining the team, along with her ARNP, Leah Layman, to provide full-service dermatology.

“Claire already has 200-plus patients on her paper schedule, and we have yet to advertise her arrival,” Glenn said.

Jefferson Healthcare is to have a five-year lease on the new clinic space, with a five-year option.