MERIDIAN — In just a week, Saltzer Health's new clinic off of Ten Mile and I-84 will be fully operational, and not a minute too soon. The first 24/7 urgent care in the treasure will be up and running right in time for a potential holiday surge in COVID or any other illness.
"We're used to those fluctuations and volumes with the cold and flu season, and now with COVID on top of that, we're anticipating that influx of patients needing that care," said chief operating officer Matt Kaiserman.
The clinic relies on PA's and nurse practitioners, with an emergency room trained physician leading the medical team.
"Being able to access those services early in the morning, or after 5 o'clock, or even after 8 pm, etcetera, we think this is additional capacity here that is drastically needed," said Kaiserman.
The new location provides care for COVID patients, as well.
"We will be taking COVID testing patients, so anyone that has a concern will have proper protocols in place, have proper protective equipment in place for staff," said Kaiserman.
The next phase is establishing partnerships with paramedics and local facilities to transfer patients appropriately.
"Our hope is to fill that gap in between what's typically an urgent care and an emergency room, so no matter who walks through our doors, we'll be able to rule out if there's anything significant happening," said Kaiserman.
This new clinic helps Idahoans receive cost-effective care outside of an emergency room setting whenever they need it.
"We have many people throughout the state of Idaho that can't fully afford their out of pocket cost, where there are deductibles associated with their plans, this is an important resource for us to be able to provide to the community," said Kaiserman.
Saltzer Health says this is just the beginning; they already have plans to expand services to include labs and open an imaging center.
