Kittitas Valley Healthcare will partner with VK Powell for the remodel of its medical arts center, which was acquired by the public hospital district in late 2017 as an impactful step in the district’s goal to improve access to healthcare for patients and visitors to Kittitas County. The contractor was accepted as low bidder at last night’s regular meeting of the KVH Board of Commissioners.
“We’re excited to see the strategic plan take shape in such a meaningful way,” says Commissioner Liahna Armstrong. “Our early focus on patient and community needs quickly uncovered a need for increased access, and for engaging the community. In fact, these two needs became strategic goals for the organization.”
The new facility plan is about much more than bricks and mortar; it focuses on improving care processes, as well as identifying new space for patient services. “Recent provider recruitment has been so successful that we do not have adequate space for incoming providers,” said KVH CEO Julie Petersen. “We have reached the point where our facilities are the limiting factor in being able to care for our community.”
Rather than continue with previous plans to build and expand facilities on the main KVH campus, the Board opted to integrate care services by using and improving existing locations in the community, taking a neighborhood approach rather than concentrating services in a single location. In addition to reducing construction costs, this decision allows KVH to increase collaboration, and to partner with services that might otherwise be seen as competitors, in the spirit of providing as much quality patient care to the community as possible.
KVH began the process of expanding and relocating services to the Medical Arts Center in the fall of 2018 when KVH Women’s Health moved into a temporary location on the first floor. The action taken at yesterday’s meeting will allow for construction to begin on the unoccupied remainder of the building.
When completed in early 2020, the Center will be home to KVH Family Medicine – Ellensburg, KVH Pediatrics and KVH Women’s Health, joining fellow tenants VM Memorial / North Star, Orthopedics Northwest and Canyon View Physical Therapy, who will continue to occupy space in the three-story building.
The KVH Medical Arts Center is located at 100 E. Jackson Avenue. View a video rendering of the future KVH Family Medicine – Ellensburg clinic at http://tinyurl.com/NewFME.