In Juneau, it can be hard to get health care quickly — until this week, there were only two urgent cares in town.
So when SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Consortium opened a new one Tuesday, it was busy right away.
“We haven’t even been open the full day, and we’ve seen over 20 patients this morning,” said SEARHC’s Martin Benning.
Benning said the organization was eager to get this urgent care open because their other location by Twin Lakes is often full.
“We opened urgent care at Mountainside Urgent Care two years ago because our community needs assessment showed that urgent care services was underserved in Juneau,” he said. “And very quickly, it was over capacity.”
The new facility is at SEARHC’s campus in the Mendenhall Valley, by Safeway. Starting in January, services at the campus will include primary care, pediatrics, behavioral health, optometry and more.
While SEARHC is Alaska Native-run, the organization has been serving all Juneau residents for a few years.
“Our board of directors has been very clear that our mission and our vision of what we’re trying to accomplish as an organization is to serve all,” Benning said. “So that’s what we do.”
