First Care Clinic to change location in Fairbanks

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTUU/KTVF) - The First Care Clinic in Fairbanks is changing locations in December. Those that run the facility said the change of location is needed and the new location will provide improved care for the community.

In an effort to improve operations for those seeking acute care, Foundations Health Partners (FHP) is moving their First Care Clinic from its current location on Noble Street, next to Tanana Valley Clinic. This move will take place in December, with the old facility closing on Dec. 2. The new facility will be located on Cowles Street, as part of the Fairbanks Memorial Hospital campus.

According to Dr. Zach Werle, the medical director of first care for FHP, this is a much-needed change due to the number of patients that use the clinic. “We see over 30,000 patients a year in this facility, which was not originally designed for an acute care clinic that we have here,” Werle explained.

He said the high volume of patients is caused by “a real lack of primary care in this community.” Due to the lack of primary providers, many residents have instead turned to acute care.

While the First Care Clinic is considered an open-access family medicine clinic, they also provide acute or urgent care. This has resulted in the people relying on the clinic to “provide kind of a gap in primary care, chronic care where it’s needed,” Werle said. “It results in us being that safety net for the community.”

The new facility which is still being built will improve the ability to provide care according to FHP. Werle hopes the patient experience is improved by upgrades that will be made in the new facility.

“We’re going to be co-located with the hospital, which is going to result in easier access to advanced imaging, like ultrasound and CT. Patients will no longer have to travel back and forth between facilities for those tests,” Werle said. The new location will also mean patients and providers have direct access to lab and radiology areas in the same building as well as closer access to the emergency room if needed.

The closer proximity to the emergency room and the rest of the hospital will also be beneficial in the event a patient needs to be moved which can now be done with just a gurney. Previously, emergencies at the First Care Clinic required an ambulance to come to the clinic location.

Other changes include newer exam beds that are ADA compliant and a larger clinic space. “We’re increasing the number of exam rooms from 15 to 17, we’re increasing from two procedure rooms to three procedure rooms,” Werle said.

According to Werle, operations at the new facility will be similar to the current facility and the biggest challenge during the transition for staff will be “just navigating the hospital and kind of integrating into that system.”

The new facility will open on Dec. 6, meaning there will be three days in which neither facility is open. During that time, the Tanana Valley Clinic will have a provider available for walk-in care for adults. Pediatric patients will have to go to Fairbanks Memorial Hospital where same-day appointments will be available.

See a spelling or grammar error? Report it to web@ktuu.com