PeaceHealth’s Fairhaven clinic will be converted for newborn services amid coronavirus
PeaceHealth has temporarily closed its new medical clinic in the Fairhaven Plaza and plans to convert it into a safe place to provide services for newborns during the COVID-19 pandemic, the health care provider said.
The clinic at 3125 Old Fairhaven Parkway, Suite 106, shut its doors Wednesday, April 8, after opening in fall 2019 to offer walk-in and primary care for south Bellingham
Its health care providers and supplies are being redirected, for the time being, to PeaceHealth Medical Group’s main clinic at 4545 Cordata Parkway.
“This will allow the clinic’s providers to continue providing medical care, even though their typical clinic space will be closed. It will also allow us to best use our resources efficiently and redeploy people where the need is the greatest,” said Misty Parris, vice president of operations for PeaceHealth Medical Group’s Northwest Network, in an email to The Bellingham Herald.
She said the Fairhaven clinic’s closure wasn’t caused by fewer people using medical services at this time or the need to clean and disinfect because a patient or staff tested positive for COVID-19.
“The clinic’s temporary closure was a strategic decision to best utilize space, labor and resources during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Parris said. “While PeaceHealth primary care clinics throughout the system are experiencing a decrease in face-to-face patient visits, we continue to provide care to our communities through telephone visits and will also provide video visits for patients in the near future.”
Services for newborns that will be provided at the Fairhaven clinic are a partnership between PeaceHealth Medical Group Pediatrics and the PeaceHealth St. Joseph Childbirth Center.
That will allow moms and babies to be safely discharged from St. Joseph hospital and to be given care outside of the hospital that they would normally get prior to discharge, according to Parris.
Such services include hearing screenings, lactation consulting and other types of support. PeaceHealth also will be able to provide newborn and two-week wellness exams at the Fairhaven clinic, she added.
PeaceHealth’s Childbirth Center has been reassuring patients and their families during the public health crisis caused by the new coronavirus because pregnant women and newborns may be at a higher risk for contracting the virus that causes the respiratory illness.
PeaceHealth says precautions it has taken for the those at the Childbirth Center include:
▪ Providing a separate entrance from the rest of the hospital.
▪ Limiting visits to one primary support person to minimize exposure to the virus.
▪ Offering three meals a day to the person who acts as the mother’s primary support to limit their need to go in and out of the hospital.
▪ Screening all caregivers, visitors and patients for signs of illness.
▪ Making it clear that nurses who work in the Childbirth Center don’t work in any other part of the hospital.
As for patients who used the Fairhaven location for family medicine, they can still call 360-788-8388 to schedule their appointments.
People who need care on the same day can use the PeaceHealth Same Day Care Clinic that is in the Medical Office Plaza, 3015 Squalicum Parkway, Suite 140, according to the release.
This story was originally published April 10, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
