West Front Primary Care moves
Oct. 31—TRAVERSE CITY — For more than 25 years, West Front Primary Care has been a medical practice name and a location.
Monday that will no longer be the case.
West Front Primary Care this weekend is moving from 3537 West Front St. It practitioners on Tuesday will begin seeing patients in Suite F at 4290 Copper Ridge Drive.
Though the address will change, the name will remain.
"It has way more meaning," Dr. Tina Metropoulos said. "It's a nod to our roots and our impact in the community."
"It's going to be confusing enough for the patients just changing the building," said Dr. Renee Tamlyn, who said WFPC is using the move as a way to rebrand and update its compass logo.
West Front Primary Care has 15 providers: 12 doctors, two nurse practitioners and one physician assistant.
The new building will feature two pods on the north and south side. Tamlyn said each of the pod will house four providers and share an office staff.
"We'll have that continuity in the pods so patients will see the same providers and staff all the time," Tamlyn said. "It makes a big office seem a little smaller."
Metropoulos said there will be a total of 38 rooms in the new building, which includes some procedure rooms.
Currently West Front Primary Care operates out of three suites. The West Front Street building has two entrances.
"As we've expanded as a practice, we've spread into the building to accommodate our growing team and patients," Metropoulos said.
Having three separate suites can be confusing for patients, Tamlyn said, especially when staff from one suite are on call in another.
"We'll be a big team again," Metropoulos said of improved communication. "That's important and it will allow us to better service our patients. It will be the best of both worlds. We'll still service outpatients, but we'll also be able to 'level up' with our new space. The patient flow will also be better."
"We're not really gaining that much more room," Tamlyn said. "It's just the design of the space."
Metropoulos said the new home of West Front Primary Care is above Novello Imaging, allowing access to X-rays and other diagnostics without leaving the building. Metropoulos said WFPC will have Labcorp in the new building offering laboratory services and be even closer to the Copper Ridge Surgery Center.
Tamlyn said the new building includes a break room for staff and a conference room. She said there is a new color scheme throughout, and the images on the walls better reflect a "healthy Up North feel."
"The patients will have a nice, new space that we designed and developed with our patients and staff in mind," Metropoulos said.
The project has been in the works for more than a year. Burdco Inc. of Traverse City served as the general contractor.
Metropoulos said Wednesday the plan was for West Front Primary Care to halt seeing patients on Friday so the move could be accomplished Saturday. West Front Primary Care staff will be available Monday at the same (231) 935-8930 phone number and through a patient portal. Monday will be spent making sure the information technology system is functioning in the new location.
"We wanted to make sure we were all up and running before we'll be able to start seeing patients on Tuesday," Metropoulos said.
