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Chief executive Dr. Rushika Fernandopulle was on hand to cut the ribbon at Iora’s first Seattle location at 23rd and Jackson late last year (Image: Iora)
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Maxine Frazier loves her new doctor. The Central District resident started going to Iora Primary Care a few months ago, and it’s safe to say she wouldn’t go back to a traditional doctor’s office.
“This is the best thing I ever heard of,” she said.
Iora is a local branch of a growing national health provider. The fast-growing company has 12 offices across the country, with plans to open another 10 or 11 within a year, according to Kathleen Haley, senior director of marketing and communications for the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company.
Locally, there’s an office in Shoreline, and another at 23rd and Jackson in the Central District.
Iora is looking to upend the typical fee-for-service health care model, and instead partners with companies or health insurers to offer services based on a more regular schedule. In general, the insurer pays Iora a monthly fee for each member, which allows the patient to visit the office as much, or as little as they need. Visits end up lasting longer than a usual doctor’s visit, with one-hour blocks of time set aside for each patient. The New York Times just called it “a kind of Starbucks for health care.”
“We’re just restoring humanity to health care. That’s it,” quipped Dr. Jay Mathur, a Central District Iora physician CHS spoke with. Continue reading →
Busy on the front line of Seattle’s battle against the coronavirus, Swedish Medical Center is also making plans that will bolster the growing presence of health services ventures in the core of Broadway.
