Kadlec broke ground on its new West Richland primary care clinic on April 21. The new clinic is planned for space at 3950 Keene Road, next to Kadlec’s existing West Richland clinic. 

The new building will be about 15,000 square feet in size with space for 10 new primary care providers, helping to address the shortage of primary care providers the Tri-Cities area is facing. 

“Our last physician assessment study we did here in the Tri-Cities showed there was a shortage of almost 50 primary care providers in this community, so access is a challenge,” said Rob Watilo, chief operating officer for the Kadlec Medical Group, at the event.  

That shortage can lead to months of wait time, specialists doing the work of primary care providers, worsening chronic conditions and more.  

At the new Kadlec clinic, each of the 10 new providers will have a patient panel of 1,500 to 2,000 patients, enabling the clinic to serve a total of 15,000 to 20,000 patients, according to Dr. Richard Meadows, chief medical officer with Kadlec Medical Group, who spoke at the event.  

Watilo said the building would open in about a year. The last time Kadlec opened a new clinic was in 2016 in west Kennewick, he said.