Bainbridge Island-based physician assistant Lincoln Smith recently opened a new non-emergency convenience care clinic Sept. 15 on Madison Avenue in an effort to bolster healthcare options for residents.
Dubbed “The Clinic on Bainbridge,” Smith hopes to provide a space to treat patients with common illnesses such as coughs & colds, strep throat, and strains and sprains. The clinic aims to provide residents with alternative options for same-day services as an alternative to primary care or urgent care clinics.
Located at the former Windermere offices ( 840 Madison Ave N, Suite 100), Smith currently offers appointments four days a week apart from Wednesdays, as well as Saturday mornings. Based on patient feedback, he intends to adjust hours accordingly.
Smith offers 30-minute appointments, which allows him additional time to evaluate, consult and treat patients. He currently is only accepting patients who book appointments online and doesn’t offer walk-in appointments. A standard convenience appointment costs $125. For patients not able to pay the full fee, Smith said he doesn’t want cost to be a barrier for patients accessing care and plans to work with patients on a case-by-case basis.
While he doesn’t currently accept insurance, Smith said he’s happy to provide patients with a superbill, which they can submit to their insurance for possible reimbursement. However, this is something he’s willing to consider reevaluating in the future. Smith encourages people to check with their insurance providers to determine what their plan may cover.
“People can use either their credit card, HSA account or FSA account,” he said.
Smith said he doesn’t take insurance in part to keep overhead costs low, as well as reducing the administrative costs of billing insurance companies for services.
Prior to opening his own clinic, Smith graduated from Western Washington University with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism in 2007, before later earning his Master’s degree in Medical Science, Physician Assistant at the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut.
He’s previously worked at Virginia Mason Franciscan Health Medical Pavilion on BI as a primary care provider, as well as a CHI Franciscan Health cardiovascular consultant at St. Michael Medical Center in Silverdale. He currently holds a PA-C licence, which allows him to treat patients in collaboration with a physician. He collaborates with Dr. Rachelle Savalli (Doctorate of Osteopathic Medicine), who is a nationally certified family medicine physician. Savalli is available for consultation with Smith as needed, and they meet at least once a month to review cases, discuss medical topics, and review chart notes each month.
The day-to-day practice is owned and operated by Smith, who said he enjoys the opportunity to engage with his patients and learn about their lives as part of developing care with his patients.
“I think this is really unique; there’s a couple kinds of membership-based models or clinics on the island where you need to pay a membership fee for access and to be seen. I don’t require that. I don’t intend to do any kind of long-term care or primary care or preventative care,” he said. “I’m trying to fill that kind of niche part of acute care needs, where you need access and an appointment.”
Smith said the new clinic doesn’t intend to replace urgent care or higher acuity care, such as an emergency room.
“There’s obviously still a role for the urgent care and emergency departments, for more higher acuity kinds of things, I’m not going to see chest pain or abdominal pain, or high complexity,” he said.
To learn more about his practice or to book an appointment, visit theclinicbainbridge.com
