Since late 2020, Family Practice and Urgent Care Clinics have grown patient base to 12,000

The Selah Journal – February/March 2023

Just over two years ago, Best Practices Healthcare Center at North Park Centre became the newest medical clinic in the community, taking its place as the only health care provider in Selah after Astria Health closed its family practice clinic earlier that year.

Today, the clinic at 715 Park Drive vaunts a total patient list of more than 12,000 and has become an essential resource for Selah residents of all ages.

Although Best Practices is the only comprehensive healthcare provider in Selah, the clinic’s team of family practitioners and nurse practitioners make a point to treat each of their patients as individuals, not simply as a number.

“We just love taking care of people the best we can and giving them that small-town feeling when they walk through our doors,” said co-owner Janis Swart, who started Best Practices with her husband, Greg, and business partners Sunny and Sheeba Bhaskaran in November 2020.

“People tell us all the time how much they appreciate us being here, and that really means a lot,” she added. “As a longtime Selah resident, it feels good to provide such an important service for our friends and neighbors.”

The Swarts also own a Best Practices clinic in Yakima, but they saw a growing need for family medicine and urgent care in their own growing community. That led them to partner with the Bhaskarans, who own Pinnacle Healthcare Center in Yakima.

The Selah Best Practices clinic has experimented with a number of different services during the first two years, offering podiatry and behavioral health care. But as time went on, the owners determined two core services were most important to their patients – Family Medicine and Urgent Care.
Urgent care at Best Practices Selah is open from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on weekends. Family practice is available from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. weekdays.

The clinic currently employs a full-time ARNP and physician’s assistant in urgent care and two family practitioners. Swart said a third nurse practitioner could be joining the team in the next couple of months, which will allow the clinic to serve even more local patients, saving them the trip to MultiCare Memorial Hospital or alternative clinics in Yakima – or elsewhere.

“People know they won’t have to wait nearly as long as they would in Yakima,” Swart said. “Our longest wait time is about an hour, and it’s usually less than that. Our patients know they can count on us, and we’re really happy that we’ve been able to give this community a reliable health-care option.”

By offering convenience and a high level of service, it’s no surprise that the response from the community has been overwhelmingly positive. People around Selah are quick to praise the availability of Urgent Care services, which weren’t offered in Selah before Best Practices’ arrival.
“We always hear a lot of positive feedback from people who come in for urgent care,” said Steve Cook, the clinic manager who joined the team in October 2021. “People like us because we always provide the best possible customer service and respond to their concerns quickly and efficiently when they come up. And fortunately, we don’t get many complaints.”

Cook said most patients visit Urgent Care for simple fractures, X-rays, stitches, minor burns and other non-life-threatening conditions. If someone comes in with a more serious issue — like a cardiac event or a stroke — the practitioners refer them to Memorial.

“We can handle pretty much any type of common injury, but if it’s a cardiac issue, low oxygen levels or an EKG that shows an arrythmia, we stabilize and support them the best we can until we can get them to the hospital,” Cook said, adding that the busiest time so far for the Urgent Care Clinic was during last winter’s COVID-19 surge, when they were seeing an average of 125 patients per day.

Things have evened out more over the past year, but now that the word is out about Best Practices, most days are consistently busy — which is exactly what the owners wanted to see.

“For now, we’re just trying to keep things steady, and keep improving on the things we can improve on,” Janis Swart said. “Our goal is to be a consistent, pleasant presence in town. Most of all, we just want to help people. Selah people are special and we’re so proud to be part of this community.”

If you would like more information about Best Practices Healthcare Center, visit bestpracticesselah.com or call 509-698-2624.