Providence to close Valley primary care clinic

WASILLA — Valley health care consumers may have one less location for primary care come New Year’s Day.

However, officials with health groups say it could be difficult to tell how this would affect primary care availability in the Mat-Su.

Providence Medical Group Mat-Su will close a primary care clinic as of Dec. 31, a company spokesman said. A Providence-operated behavioral health clinic at the same location will remain open, said Providence spokesman Mikal Canfield.

Affected doctors include pediatricians Jesse Atwood and Therese Tomasoski and family medicine doctors Samuel Inouye and Cathy Baldwin-Johnson, who will relocate to the Providence-run Alaska CARES clinic near the main Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage. The clinic employs 18 people overall, Canfield said.

“Demand” was cited as the primary reason for closing the clinic, according to Canfield.

“PMG has experienced a decline in primary care patient volumes over time in the Mat-Su, a community that benefits from an abundance of primary care options,” he wrote in an email. “Ultimately, the community’s need for primary care is met with other providers.”

The Valley is home to several urgent care centers and other primary care providers, such as the Mat-Su Regional Medical Center, which also operates primary care clinics in the Valley. Alan Craft, a spokesman for that company, said officials were still waiting to see what effect, if any, the closing would have on its primary care business.

“We can project what might be the need in the future,” he said. “These (projections) are all based on different kinds of models.”

While projections show the Valley will experience continued rapid population growth in the coming years, the impact of that growth could vary according to specialty and the makeup of that growth, Craft said.

“It’s dependent entirely on their practice,” he said.

The clinic has treated almost 3,000 patients in the last two years, according to Canfield.

The patient to primary care doctor ratio for the Valley was 1,293 patients for every doctor in 2009, according to the most recent figures available on the Mat-Su Health Foundation website. This contrasts with 731 patients to the average physician statewide.

Current Providence Medical Group patients looking for a referral, or to obtain medical records can call 761-5900, Canfield said.

Contact Brian O’Connor at 352-2269 or brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com.

Note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated the name of a physician who will have a continuing role with Alaska CARES.