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Salem Health opening its largest clinic yet in Woodburn

A new Salem Health clinic opens January 2020 in Woodburn (Courtesy/Salem Health)

Woodburn residents will soon have a new option for medical care when a new Salem Health clinic and urgent care facility opens in January.

The Salem-based healthcare provider is expanding into the city of 25,000 because of the number of patients based there and the city’s projected population growth in coming years.

“We believe that we can provide care for the whole person under one roof in a convenient location so people aren’t having to travel,” said Lee Espey, the clinic’s site administrator.

Salem Health first opened a small temporary clinic in Woodburn in May 2018 with primary care doctors.

The goal was to expand into a larger, permanent facility using what providers learned about patient needs, Espey said. About 1,100 Woodburn patients have a primary care doctor with the smaller clinic.

“We’ve had good success with that,” Espey said.

At 31,000 square feet, the new clinic will be Salem Health’s largest, with services for family medicine, x-rays, ultrasounds, mammography, physical therapy and obstetricians and gynecologists.

Its urgent care will be open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekends, longer hours than many urgent care centers in the area.

Woodburn also has a Legacy Medical Group clinic offering family and internal medicine. The closest Salem Health clinic is in Keizer.

Espey said Salem Health regularly sees patients from north Marion County in its hospitals and primary care clinics and wanted to make it easier for people to get the services they need closer to home.

With urgent care and primary care clinic under one roof, it will be easier for Salem Health to care for patients who don’t regularly go to a doctor.

“Patients that we see in urgent care that don’t have a primary care provider, we can get them signed up,” Espey said. “We can care for them beyond a single interaction.”

Nearly half of Woodburn residents speak Spanish at home, according to U.S. Census data. Because of that, the clinic’s medical assistants, receptionists and other office staff will be bilingual in English and Spanish.

“To be able to care for patients, we need to be able to speak to them in their preferred language. Many of those patients also speak English but Spanish may be more comfortable,” Espey said.

The clinic is located at 105 N. Arney Rd., just off Interstate 5.

Patients can now make appointments online or by calling 503-902-3900, and the clinic will begin seeing patients Jan. 2, 2020. A grand opening is scheduled for Friday, Dec. 13 at 9:30 a.m.

News tip? Contact reporter Rachel Alexander: [email protected] or 503-575-1241.