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Remodel improves clinic
August 09, 2007
When Parkland resident Breanna Tanner visited PLU’s Wellness Center for the first time a year ago, the waiting room was little more than a gloomy hallway lined with a single row of uncomfortable chairs.
“I was scared the first time I was here,” Tanner said.
That’s not the case anymore. The clinic shut down on July 9 for a month-long remodel that completely transformed the space. Improvements include an expanded waiting room, a separate reception area, additional exam rooms and a private office for the two nurse practitioners. It reopened its doors on Aug. 6.
“It’s a very dramatic change,” said Ruth Kohler, the center’s manager.
The expanded waiting area is the most noticeable change. The center’s staff opted to convert their former conference and break rooms into the larger waiting space and a new reception area, Kohler explained.
Light-green paint coats the walls and comfy chairs are arranged throughout the space. While the reception area used to be next to exam rooms, it now resides opposite the exam area. Moving the reception area and building additional walls within the exam space brought the clinic up to healthcare privacy guidelines, Kohler said.
“It’s wonderful,” said full-time nurse practitioner JJ Kim. “It’s better for the patients to walk in and feel like they are in a real clinic and not the dungeon.”
Tanner agreed and said she was impressed with the renovation.
“It feels like it’s a real doctor’s office,” she said. “It’s more welcoming.”
Located on the ground floor of East Campus, the clinic is a nurse-managed center that provides healthcare services to the surrounding community. The number of patients the clinic serves has risen dramatically in recent years, averaging from 375 to 400 patients per month, Kohler said.
“It’s the one thing PLU does that touches the most people,” Kohler said of the clinic.
Last year, the clinic hired nurse practitioner Jennifer Creaser part-time to assist Kim. Prior to the remodel, the two shared an office with two or three nursing students who work at the clinic during the year. The former reception space is now enclosed, creating an office for the practitioners, complete with separate workstations for each.
“It gives us more privacy to talk about patients,” Kim said.
The clinic provides a variety of outpatient services and receives regular referrals from area emergency rooms and other clinics. It is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and two Saturdays a month from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
For more information, contact the clinic at ext. 7354 or visit www.plu.edu/~nurs/wellness-center.
That’s not the case anymore. The clinic shut down on July 9 for a month-long remodel that completely transformed the space. Improvements include an expanded waiting room, a separate reception area, additional exam rooms and a private office for the two nurse practitioners. It reopened its doors on Aug. 6.
“It’s a very dramatic change,” said Ruth Kohler, the center’s manager.
The expanded waiting area is the most noticeable change. The center’s staff opted to convert their former conference and break rooms into the larger waiting space and a new reception area, Kohler explained.
Light-green paint coats the walls and comfy chairs are arranged throughout the space. While the reception area used to be next to exam rooms, it now resides opposite the exam area. Moving the reception area and building additional walls within the exam space brought the clinic up to healthcare privacy guidelines, Kohler said.
“It’s wonderful,” said full-time nurse practitioner JJ Kim. “It’s better for the patients to walk in and feel like they are in a real clinic and not the dungeon.”
Tanner agreed and said she was impressed with the renovation.
“It feels like it’s a real doctor’s office,” she said. “It’s more welcoming.”
Located on the ground floor of East Campus, the clinic is a nurse-managed center that provides healthcare services to the surrounding community. The number of patients the clinic serves has risen dramatically in recent years, averaging from 375 to 400 patients per month, Kohler said.
“It’s the one thing PLU does that touches the most people,” Kohler said of the clinic.
Last year, the clinic hired nurse practitioner Jennifer Creaser part-time to assist Kim. Prior to the remodel, the two shared an office with two or three nursing students who work at the clinic during the year. The former reception space is now enclosed, creating an office for the practitioners, complete with separate workstations for each.
“It gives us more privacy to talk about patients,” Kim said.
The clinic provides a variety of outpatient services and receives regular referrals from area emergency rooms and other clinics. It is open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and two Saturdays a month from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
For more information, contact the clinic at ext. 7354 or visit www.plu.edu/~nurs/wellness-center.