STUART, Fla. — It’s an issue many of you have come forward about— the inability to get a doctor's appointment.
Part of the growing pains of a growing population is getting care when you need it.
As many area health care providers embark on expansion projects, we're looking at one provider trying to chip away at the problem. Cleveland Clinic opened up a brand new primary care facility this past week on U.S. Highway 1 in Stuart, north of the Roosevelt Bridge.
WATCH: How health care providers are expanding along the Treasure Coast
Dr. Rishi Singh, vice president of Cleveland Clinic’s Martin North and South hospitals, says the biggest improvement will be cutting down on patient wait times.
“We used to have wait times up to 365 days to the next primary care appointment," Singh said. "We’re cutting that to less than 30 with some of the access points we’ve created in the community."
Dr. Surendra Khera has been behind the recruiting of 55 primary care clinicians in the past two years. The key, in a very competitive market, he says, was finding a successful clinical model that included a compressed work week for some employees.
“While opening access to the community, you don’t want to burn primary care physicians out," Khera said.
At the same time, the plan is to provide longer appointments so patients aren’t rushed through. Collaborative care models called Clinical Access Teams work together to help with patient flow and timely care.
“We’ve got a shiny new office and it’s great, but it’s the team that makes the office," said Dr. Kathleen Hayden, one of the new primary care physicians who was recruited from Florida’s west coast.
Cleveland Clinic isn’t the only medical provider on the Treasure Coast expanding services.
Tenet Health recently gave us a sneak peek at its new 54-bed hospital on Becker Road in Port St. Lucie, and HCA Florida St. Lucie Hospital opened up a new medical park building earlier this month that includes a variety of specialized services like Cardiology and Orthopedics.
HCA Florida St. Lucie Hospital is also currently adding two floors to its main building to provide more surgical beds and an expansion of women’s services.
