Samaritan Healthcare | The Samaritan | Summer 2018

4 THE SAMARITAN Samaritan Clinic A s patients enter our newly remodeled Samaritan Clinic, they now see open spaces where there used to be walls. They’ll enjoy the friendly greetings of staff, new check-in areas and renovated public rest- rooms updated with a new color scheme. All this and more greet patients following our recent construction. Several healthcare services make their home un- der one roof in the Samaritan Clinic: orthopaedics, podiatry, OB-GYN (including a midwife), fam- ily medicine and pediatrics.These healthcare teams consist of surgeons, physicians, PA-Cs, nurses, nurse practitioners and staff—all working together to bring state-of-the-art care to the residents of the commu- nity and the region. The remodeling project began in mid-September and was completed 18 days ahead of schedule in mid-March. “From the main entrance throughout the first floor, it’s more welcoming, because our patients and their families walk into an open, warm and friendly envi- ronment,” says Kyle Kellum, clinic director at Samari- tan Healthcare. “They see our Samaritan people ready to help and care for them instead of being faced with walls, doors and directional signs.” Several updates were developed due to input from staff and patients. In addition to removing walls to open the first-floor spaces, the check-in desk area was another focus of the renovation. New desks en- hance patient privacy and ensure patients’ personal healthcare information remains confidential. “All the changes we made were set around pa- tient experience,” says Gretchen Youngren, director of development and communication at Samaritan Healthcare. “Now patients benefit by having an im- proved overall experience as soon as they enter and proceed to check in.” The clinic also added two additional check-in stations, due to the expanding family medicine department. “By expanding our family medicine check-in stations from two to four, we were also able to change the way we schedule patients,” says Kellum. “Our scheduling can now accommodate more appointment slots, which reduces the time spent waiting and allows patients to see their providers faster.” REMODELED completed a Open design is welcoming for patients and staff