MultiCare to close longstanding Tacoma urgent care clinic. Here’s what will replace it
A Tacoma urgent care clinic that was one of the first of its kind under its brand when it opened years ago is making way for a new medical office.
MultiCare Indigo Urgent Care, 1812 S. Mildred St., is closing after April 22.
Melanie Collett, director of marketing and communications for Indigo Urgent Care clinics, told The News Tribune on Thursday in response to questions that the closing was the result of a “unique circumstance.”
“MultiCare’s Obstetrics Access Clinic will be moving their practice into the James Center building in Tacoma,” she said via email. “As a result, the James Center Indigo Urgent Care location will permanently close.”
Collett added, “The current James Center Indigo team members will be transferring to a nearby Indigo Urgent Care. Most of the team members chose to transfer to Point Ruston, University Place, or Stadium district, which opens April 24.”
The Stadium site is part of the new Merrill Gardens at Wright Park complex.
According to its website, Tacoma-based MultiCare has eight urgent care clinics in the Spokane area, including one in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and more than 30 in the Puget Sound region. In the Tacoma area, other Indigo sites include Gig Harbor, Puyallup and Frederickson. It also has clinics in King and Thurston counties.
Patients will be seen at Indigo Urgent Care in James Center through April 22, according to Collett.
“The OBAC group will move in right away so that they can see patients as soon as possible and maintain continuity of care,” she wrote.
A MultiCare employee who has worked at the site told The News Tribune that many of the clinic’s patients were older, facing complex health issues and were not on any employee-based insurance plan, but rather receiving state aid or Medicare.
The worker, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation from MultiCare, said the bulk of patients also did not have a primary care doctor, so clinic visits tended to run longer with clinic physicians facing multiple complex, chronic issues.
“There’s always a push to see a certain number more than the other clinics so that they can break even or above,” he said.
Collett said the clinic’s patient demographic was not the reason for the closure.
“The current OBAC building is undergoing significant construction and they need a new space,” she wrote. “By repurposing the James Center Indigo clinic, the OBAC group can seamlessly continue providing essential services and care to pregnant women with high-risk medical conditions, while maintaining close proximity to Tacoma General and Tacoma Family Medicine.”
She added, “We are confident that we can minimize disruption and maintain community access to urgent care with the new Stadium Indigo Urgent Care opening just five miles from James Center this April.”
No other Indigo closures are planned, Collett noted: “Indigo is actively looking for more opportunities to open clinics in Tacoma.”
Claire Spain-Remy, chief physician officer for MultiCare at that time, told The News Tribune when the clinic opened that Indigo was offering “a new way of approaching care,” with no waiting. The clinic touted complimentary espresso, water, Wi-Fi service and charging stations under its new “concierge” style.
“We’re taking care of common, minor things that would come through an urgent care center,” Spain-Remy said then. “If you are having chest pain or you’re hemorrhaging, you don’t want to come here. You want to go to the emergency room.”
Indigo clinics have faced a number of challenges since their inception nearly seven years ago, including the COVID-19 pandemic.
Those issues included a protracted contract battle with the union representing clinic workers.
The COVID-19 pandemic led to an employee informational picket in October 2020 at the James Center clinic over personal protective equipment shortages and working conditions.
A two-day strike followed in November 2020 at 20 Indigo clinics among the workers represented by the Union of American Physicians and Dentists.
The union representing Indigo providers and MultiCare eventually reached a contract agreement in spring 2021.
MultiCare was among many Washington health systems recently reporting financial losses for 2022, following losses in 2021.
Bill Robertson, chief executive officer for MultiCare, said during a March 21 news conference that “all of our hospitals in 2022 lost money from a operating margin basis.”
“Our aggregate loss was $286 million,” he added. “Clearly not sustainable over time.”
At the same time, competition in the urgent care world has grown, with retailers expanding or introducing clinics in their storefronts along with digital telehealth as more patients move away from relying solely on a conventional brick-and-mortar primary care model.
Amazon, for example, recently closed on its purchase of primary care provider One Medical, and the e-retail giant hosts Amazon Clinic on its website, offering service for various health ailments in 33 states, including Washington.
In 2021, Walmart announced it would acquire telehealth provider MeMD. And Whole Foods co-founder John Mackey recently launched Love.Life.Telehealth, after acquiring the former Plant Based TeleHealth national network.
“If you fast forward 10 years from now, people are not going to believe how primary care was administered,” Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said in his company’s One Medical announcement in February.
“Customers want and deserve better ... we believe we can make the health care experience easier, faster, more personal, and more convenient for everyone,” he added.
According to a recent report by Axios, other retailers either expanding or starting health care-related services include Best Buy, Dollar General, CVS, Albertsons and Walgreens.
UAPD officials warn that through the years, urgent care clinics such as Indigo have become small versions of emergency rooms, with patients turning to the clinics to be seen and stabilized.
Dr. Stuart Bussey, UAPD president, told The News Tribune in a statement, “It’s unfortunate that MultiCare is closing James Center. This clinic provides essential care to Tacoma’s neediest residents, including the elderly on fixed incomes. The closure will create a great deal of confusion and chaos among a vulnerable population of patients.“
