The Community Health Association of Spokane has opened a new clinic that specializes in the needs of seniors.
The clinic opened earlier this month. CHAS chief clinic officer William Lockwood says the facility specializes in the type of physical issues those older than 60 might face, as well as specializing in behavioral health.
“It’s not only people 60 and up, but people that are 60 and up with complex medical problems and behavioral problems along with it, because it's really set up to look at full service behavior health, and set up for longer visits so those patients with complex problems will get extra time with a provider,” he said.
Lockwood says the behavioral health aspect was instigated because there are not many options for Medicare patients to receive such care in Spokane. He says many health issues can be linked to behavioral problems, such as the fact seniors often suffer from falls, and so may limit their activities outside the home where they would be interacting with others.
Lockwood says the need in the Spokane area for a clinic to serve seniors was important, in part due to the increasing number of folks insured by Medicare, which is expanding one percent a year for the CHAS clientele.
Lockwood says the clinic is also set up to do screenings for health issues seniors face.
”I think fall risk and dementia screens are two of the things senior clinics focus on. We do, fortunately, have an internal medicine doc working there who just became board certified in lipidology and that’s to study the study and control of hyperlipidemia or high cholesterol,” said Lockwood.
He says while the CHAS clinics have a reputation for serving low income patients or those who cannot find medical care elsewhere, since the Medicaid expansion, their clientele has gone from 35% uninsured to just 8%.
The new CHAS senior clinic is located at 914 West Carlisle.
