Public can tour 'the new face of health care' this Thursday

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Sky Lakes Collaborative Health Center. (Submitted photo)

Sky Lakes Collaborative Health Center. (Submitted photo)

Sky Lakes 2.JPG

IF YOU GO

What:
Sky Lakes Collaborative Health Center Public Open House

When:
2:00 - 4:00 PM, Thursday, December 12

Location:
Sky Lakes Medical Center

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. - The Sky Lakes Collaborative Health Center has been called “the new face of health care delivery in Klamath Falls,” and the public is invited to its grand opening 2-4 p.m. Thursday, December 12.

Visitors will be able to see one of the two floors that will be the new Sky Lakes Primary Care Clinic. Five stand-alone clinics – Sky Lakes Primary Care on Almond, Sky Lakes Primary Care on Clover, Sky Lakes Family Medicine Clinic, Sky Lakes Adult Medicine Clinic, and Sky Lakes Klamath Medical Clinic – will consolidate on the second and third floors. The new clinic opens for patient care in January, 2020.

Consolidating the clinics enables more patient services such as on-site nutrition and pharmaceutical counseling, and behavioral health consults that were unavailable in the smaller clinics. For greater patient convenience, lab tests and X-ray services will be available on the first floor. The public can visit those spaces during the open house.

The open house also will include the Cascades East Family Medicine Clinic. Currently serving thousands of local patients, Cascades East will be able to serve even more patients from its expanded space on the first floor.

The headquarters of the OHSU Campus for Rural Health will be on the ground floor and will provide vital space to advance health care education.

SLMC Campus Parking

Following the opening of the new parking structure in September 2017, Sky Lakes has added additional parking on the east side of the campus.

According to Tom Hottman, Public Information Officer for Sky Lakes, “A 209-space lot for employees only will open soon east of the campus (above Bryant Williams Drive near Plum Ridge), so staff who used to park near their clinics will have those spaces. A shuttle will make the route every 10-15 minutes to pick up and drop off. Providers will have spaces nearer the new building. Patients will be able to use the parking structure plus other spaces nearby.”

Vacated Buildings

With the consolidation of five Sky Lakes clinics, this will leave several buildings vacant and without a occupant within the Klamath Falls community. However, Sky Lakes has a plan for that.

“Some of the clinics being vacated will be available for Sky Lakes specialty clinics,” says Hottman. “We only lease others, so those will be available for other purposes.”

The Sky Lakes Dermatology Clinic is expected to expand into one of the vacating clinics this spring.