With many patients treated at its hospital and emergency rooms struggling to get in with providers after being discharged, the region’s biggest health care system has established an outpatient clinic to ensure those patients are cared for following that transition. 

Kadlec Clinic Bridge Care, located in the Corrado Building on Kadlec’s main Richland campus, will see patients by referral from the hospital or ER providers until they can establish care with a primary care provider, according to a release. 

“The first 30 days after discharge is a very vulnerable and important time,” said Racheal Inman, manager of the Kadlec Clinic Bridge Care and Population Health, in a statement. “There are discharge orders and often new medications and referrals.” 

A 2024 study published in the medical Journal of General Internal Medicine found that many patients do not receive follow-up care following hospitalization. Nearly half of Medicare patients did not receive follow-up care from a primary care provider a month after discharge, with 1 in 4 patients covered by commercial insurance failing to meet with any health care provider during that same period. 

Inman said patients experiencing high stress after discharge are more likely to be readmitted to the hospital within 30 days, and those facing care gaps also may repeatedly return to emergency departments and urgent care clinics. 

“With this clinic, we want to make sure that patients have time with a provider and staff who can help them connect with resources and navigate their care to get everything they need,” she said. 

The clinic is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 8 a.m. until noon Friday. Appointments are required, and both virtual and in-person appointments are available.