LONG BEACH — The healthcare landscape is changing on the Long Beach Peninsula.
On Aug. 27, Ocean Beach Health joined with community partners, boosters and elected officials and representatives from every level of government to celebrate the grand opening of the public hospital district’s women and children’s health clinic in Long Beach.
“This is a major milestone for Ocean Beach Health and the Long Beach community,” said Merry-Ann Keane, CEO of OBH. “This clinic…is truly an investment. It’s an investment not only in the building — which is really nice — but it’s an investment in the future of our community, our families, our children, and a realization of the district and board’s vision.”
About 60 people attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony, including OBH board members, executives, providers and staff. OBH Foundation trustees, donors and community partners were also on hand, as were local, regional and state elected officials and representatives. Attendees were able to receive a tour of the new clinic following the ribbon cutting.
The clinic’s focus on women’s and children’s health came after residents frequently mentioned the desire for more of those services in OBH’s community health needs assessments.
“This is the beginning of making that vision a reality,” said Keane, who credited OBH’s facilities team for finishing the project on time and under budget. “This [clinic] is for women of all ages, from birth to death, and all of the children that are in this community.”
Strategic planning
OBH board chair Nancy Gorshe said the project represents “many years of strategic planning.”
“We’re trying to continually obtain input from the community about our needs. Some of that comes directly from fellow board members — we all walk in this community, and in different parts of it,” said Gorshe.
“We’re also really dedicated to trying to understand better who the underserved are. We know in those communities that we are not doing our best, but we are continually trying to learn new ways. We’re also really trying to seek ways to provide and improve care close to home. Obviously a lot of us have had to experience travel distances for specialty care, and sometimes just for even closer care across the river. But it all can be quite inconvenient.”
Washington State Secretary of Health Dennis Worsham was among the dignitaries in attendance, and emphasized in remarks the importance of thoughtful investment in rural healthcare and expanding services closer to home.
“It takes a community to drive these types of outcomes that are so needed in a rural community, and it takes a village to make these things happen,” said Worsham, who grew up in a small town in Eastern Washington and lamented the curtailing of services happening in many communities. “But [it’s inspiring] to see that here, with a new clinic for both women’s and children’s services, that in this county and this community these services are actually growing to meet the needs of folks.”
Clinic details
The 5,000-square-foot clinic contains two women’s exam rooms, an exam room for walk-in appointments, a “colorful” infant and child exam room, and an additional patient exam room.
Additionally, the facility houses a procedure room, a behavioral health appointment room, two larger rooms for family visits, and dedicated waiting areas for children, women and families. There is also support space for staff, provider offices and a nurses’ station.
The space was purposely designed to be “welcoming, flexible and family-centered,” OBH said. Large windows bring natural light into the clinic, with wall toys in the children’s waiting areas, original artwork from local artists and a mural in the waiting area created by Long Beach Mayor Sue Svendsen meant to create a warm and community-centered environment.
Two providers currently serve the clinic. Certified nurse-midwife and women’s health nurse practitioner Corinne Reeves provides women’s health services, and family nurse practitioner Emily Darr offering family practice care.
“Women deserve a clinic designed around their needs, and young families deserve care that is convenient, compassionate and close to home,” said Keane. “This clinic brings that care closer to the people we serve and reflects our commitment to the community and investing where there is a need.”
OBH is aiming to bring on two additional providers in the coming months, including a pediatric nurse practitioner this fall and a pediatrician early in 2027. Walk-in services for both women and children are expected to begin in the fall, as well.
The district has received considerable community buy-in as it pushed to make the clinic a reality, with OBH Foundation president Sally Macy announcing during the ceremony that the organization has raised about $160,000 in support of the clinic. Supporters include Oman & Son Builders Supply, the Lions Club International Foundation as well as local and regional Lions Clubs, Fibre Federal Credit Union’s Communities First program, and dozens of other local businesses and individual donors.
“But as you all probably know, the foundation is just a conduit,” said Macy. “It isn’t our money. It’s all of your money that you’ve donated…Ocean Beach Health is just a reflection of the generosity of our community. We have amazing folks on this peninsula.”