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The Polyclinic Opens New Flagship at 7th and Madison

By Lloyd David centration is on ’s First Hill, least risky facility solution that we Executive Director/CEO aka “Pill Hill.” We outgrew our could have found. The Polyclinic main facility on Broadway, near Swedish Medical Center and were Ultimately, more than 120 physi- forced to disperse and ad- cian practices and clinicians will ministrative functions to nine dif- relocate from their current First ferent locations, resulting in oper- Hill locations to the contemporary ational inefficiencies and eroding nine-story building at the corner the magic that comes from having of 7th and Madison. The newly so many services under one roof. placed Polyclinic signs on the south and west side of the building The overheated real estate and can now be seen from the highway. construction markets, combined with the scarcity of appropriately We are thrilled to have been able zoned land, made it extremely dif- to lease this entire building for The ficult to find an affordable facility Polyclinic because it allows us to solution. The real estate crash of return to our core goal of provid- 2008 provided the opportunity we ing as many services as possible needed. Partnering with an invest- under one roof for the convenience ment firm, we secured a beautiful of our patients, and to encourage new building shell and core, with collaboration between our physi- On May 14, The Polyclinic com- 205,000 square feet, which had cians and other providers – some- pletes its move into our new flag- been built ‘on spec’ and had sat thing that’s an integral part of our ship facility, The Polyclinic Madi- empty for two years. The purchase practice model. son Center. Located just off I-5, price was literally half of what it across from downtown Seattle, the cost to build, which allowed us to Everyone benefits from this plan: building provides incredibly con- get a very reasonable lease rate. We negotiated a fair long term venient access. Combined with ending leases at lease, made aesthetic improve- several other buildings, it was a vi- ments to our corner with a well With nearly 200 pro- able move for us financially. This planned, beautifully landscaped viders, the Polyclinic has doubled also shaved at least two years off underground garage following in size over the past seven years. the development time frame and consultation with our neighbors, We have clinics located in North dramatically reduced the risk of and are hoping to breathe a little and South Seattle and near South the entitlements and construction more life into this area of First Hill Lake Union, but the largest con- process. It is the least costly and which has faced some economic -1- hardship in recent years. private, confidential environment. town clinic on Olive Way several We even think there may be a day years ago, we found that many of It’s also an ideal environment when Skype type services exist. our patients preferred having their for our physicians who will have At 60 square feet, we felt this ex- physicians close to work rather greater opportunities for face-to- pense was worthwhile. than home since they could see face interactions with colleagues, them during the week. With large having a huge pool of expertise We abandoned a central check-in employers like Amazon, King readily available in the same build- station, so patients could go direct- County, Nordstrom, and dozens of ing. And our patients benefit be- ly to their physician’s area. Blood other well established businesses cause they can see not only their draw stations are consolidated to downtown, we anticipate both The primary care physician, but also minimize patient wait times. New Polyclinic Downtown and The the majority of our specialists un- lab equipment will enable patients Polyclinic Madison Center will der one roof. They also have ac- to get their blood drawn, and then draw many downtown employees cess to onsite diagnostic imaging go to their appointment and review for primary and specialty care. like MRI, CT scanning and breast lab results with their physician in screening, plus an onsite lab. the exam room. The Polyclinic Broadway, where most of these physicians have We designed The Madison Center The location itself is also expected practiced, will continue to house with a combination of old values to be a big draw for those work- our high intensity services, includ- and new strategies. Physicians ing downtown, as the clinic is just ing the Endoscopy Center and Am- still have private offices, so they across the Madison Street bridge. bulatory Surgery Center, and some can call and e-mail patients in a When we established our down- of the medical specialties that use

The Polyclinic Madison Center Building

-2- those services. Administrative around Seattle. The Polyclinic has Alliance. He previously served as functions will come back from nearly 200 health care providers, president of the Medi- leased spaces into the older Broad- including primary, specialty and cal Group Alliance, an association way wing, which was constructed surgical specialists, plus diagnostic of large medical groups across the in the 1960s and 1970s. imaging, laboratory, ambulatory state. He has a BA in Government surgery and other support services. from Harvard University and an Lloyd David is the Executive Direc- MBA from the University of Wash- tor/CEO of The Polyclinic, a multi- Mr. David is vice-chairman of the ington. specialty group located in and board of the Puget Sound Health

Reprinted with permission from the Washington Healthcare News. To learn more about the Washington Healthcare News visit wahcnews.com.

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