Kaiser Permanente of the Mid-Atlantic States is expanding once again with a new clinic concept in the region — one, it said, that's without the "clinic" feel.
The Rockville-based regional affiliate said Tuesday it plans to bring a new medical center to 5402 Wisconsin Ave., near the intersection with Western Avenue in Chevy Chase. That 5,000-square-foot office is slated to open in September at the Shops at Wisconsin Place center, in the same building as the Friendship Heights Metro station.
The practice, called Well by Kaiser Permanente, deviates in both services and design from KP’s other Greater Washington locations — which the organization has been aggressively opening of late. It eschews the system's more traditional "hub" model, which is comprised of primary and specialty care services, including maternal health, cancer care and behavioral health. Instead, the Well pilot, with four primary care doctors and three support staff, will cater to patients who “prefer a smaller, more intimate experience” with their physicians, said Kaiser spokeswoman Marisa Lavine.
That stems in part from a more modern design, conceived by Dallas-based HKS, architect for the project. It “will not be your typical doctor’s office,” said Ruth Williams-Brinkley, regional president for Kaiser, in a statement. “The space is being carefully designed to feel more inviting and less clinical than the traditional doctor’s office and help our members feel at ease when they walk in our doors.”
We've asked Kaiser about the estimated cost of the project and number of members it expects to serve at the location, among other details, and will update this post when we hear back. But if this pilot works well, and Kaiser can “determine if our members benefit from this new type of smaller, urban clinic model,” then it will add more Well locations in the region, Lavine said.
Kaiser faces competition from increasingly modern and personalized care-focused practices in the region, including Arlington women’s health group Advantia Health and Forward, a high-tech primary care concept that came to D.C. in 2019 from San Francisco. And KP’s pilot site stands on the Maryland side of Western Avenue in Chevy Chase where there's no shortage of medical office buildings and outpatient care centers. That list includes a MedStar Medical Group primary care practice, an OB-GYN practice that Advantia acquired in June, and numerous other physician offices.
Kaiser doesn’t currently have any of its own medical centers nearby. Its closest are its Kensington site in Maryland and an office on M Street in Northwest D.C.
But the system has seen significant local growth in recent years. Kaiser now counts 780,000 Mid-Atlantic members, more than 1,700 physicians and 34 medical offices in D.C., Maryland and Virginia. Its parent network comprises 12.4 million members in eight states and the District.
Williams-Brinkley said in mid-2020 the organization aims to keep up its expansion plans here. “There is tremendous opportunity in this region, and we expect and plan to continue our growth,” she told us in July, after stepping in to lead KP’s Mid-Atlantic region, succeeding Kim Horn.
Kaiser’s regional projects include its Haymarket Crossroads Medical Center near Interstate 66, one of three locations it opened in 2019 in addition to its site at The Exchange at Potomac Yard and its Colonial Forge Medical Center on the Stafford Hospital campus. Kaiser also opened an administrative and IT facility near the New Carrollton Metro station in 2018.
It’s now working to deliver a handful of other sites across the region in Bowie (targeting fall 2021); Rockville (late 2021); Woodbridge (spring 2022); Springfield (late summer 2022); Timonium, Maryland (January 2022); and Hyattsville (third quarter of 2022).
