March 30, 2006
Neighborhood Clinics mark 10th anniversary
The UW Physicians Network, made up of eight primary-care Neighborhood Clinics, is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year.
In 1993, Harborview Medical Center, UW Medical Center and UW Physicians began a strategic planning effort, which led to creation of the new network of primary-care clinics in the greater Seattle area.
Clinic locations were selected to provide easy accessibility; nearly every King County resident has a clinic within 15 minutes of home or work. Harborview’s Westwood Clinic opened in July of 1996, followed by Factoria in January 1997, Woodinville in May 1997, Issaquah in August 1997, Kent/DesMoines in September 1997, Belltown in January 1998, Federal Way in March 1998, Shoreline in May 1998 and Auburn in November 1998. The Westwood Clinic closed in July 2001.
The eight current clinics are open six days a week, with many clinics offering early morning or early evening hours for patient convenience. In the first fiscal year, the network logged just 12,015 patient visits, compared with 237,732 in the 2005 fiscal year. The clinic network now has 60 physicians, five physician assistants, one nurse practitioner and one nutritionist. UWPN was the first primary-care network in the region to adopt a fully electronic medical record and practice management system, according to Executive Director Teresa Spellman Gamble. She said the group is now piloting UW Neighborhood eCare, which allows patients to access portions of their medical records online.
In the fall of 2005, the clinic network received its third three-year accreditation award — and its third perfect accreditation survey score — from the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care.
