Here’s a preview of Kaiser Permanente’s new Gig Harbor clinic opening Dec. 26
If you frequent the Gig Harbor Fred Meyer or the nearby businesses and restaurants, you’ve no doubt seen the signs for the new Kaiser Permanente clinic.
The clinic is set to open Dec. 26 with the first patients seen that afternoon. The clinic is led by physician Byron Doepker. Also on staff is Laura Turgano, doctor of osteophathic medicine, and Darcie Baker, physician assistant.
Doepker recently moved to the Gig Harbor area after previously practicing at Kaiser Permanente’s Capitol Hill Family Health Center in Seattle.
That was “four floors, all specialties on site, very different setting,” Doepker said. “But I wanted to be in a smaller community and a place that felt more like a community.”
The Gig Harbor clinic will handle primary and pediatric care, mental health and wellness and lab services for Kaiser Permanente members.
The six exam rooms offer extra-cushioned chairs for patients instead of exam tables, and the clinic has enclosed space for doctor video visits to do home consultations via KP Washington app.
The front reception area has a self check-in kiosk available, and there’s a community room available that people can reserve for meetings such as book clubs.
Two nurses on staff will help run its chronic disease management program.
“That’s been a growing part of health care in America — how to manage chronic conditions,” Doepker said, “because that’s where a lot of the morbidity and suffering comes into health care and where there’s room to make improvements.”
That includes tasks such as adjusting diabetes medications, counseling patients on habits and self care management to help support those with complex conditions, he said.
The clinic will offer same-day delivery of medications, managed out of a Port Orchard pharmacy with a contracted service making the deliveries.
The new clinic is an example of the medical system’s recent push into Pierce County and South Sound, with a flagship specialty hub planned in the next few years for Tacoma, improving on its Tacoma Specialty Medical Center. Kaiser also has a CareClinic at Bartell Drugs, 5500 Olympic Drive, in Gig Harbor. West Olympia also will see a new Kaiser primary care clinic later next year.
On Thursday, Tacoma’s WorkForce Central announced a $95,000 grant it received this week from Kaiser Permanente to help fund a pre-apprenticeship center for future construction workers. The grant adds to funding already dedicated from the Pierce County Council for $100,000 and $100,000 coming from WorkForce Central toward its goal of $500,000 to open and operate the center.
“We are thrilled that Kaiser Permanente is partnering with WorkForce Central to not only increase the talent pipeline, but also advance health equity in our county. There is much research that supports the correlation between stress caused by the lack of education and employment and chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease,” said Linda Nguyen, CEO of WorkForce Central in its news release.
Kaiser Permanente Gig Harbor Medical Office
▪ Address: 5216 Point Fosdick Dr. NW, Suite 102
▪ Phone: 888-901-4636
▪ Hours: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Tuesday: 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.; second Saturday of each month: 8 a.m. to noon.
▪ Online: kp.org/wa/gigharbor
This story was originally published December 21, 2018 at 12:00 AM.
