Providence has completed a remodel in Chewelah that will double patient care space and improve access to its services, the hospital said.
“It’s just a really proud day to be standing here knowing that this clinic will be providing really crucial needs for Chewelah and the surrounding area,” said Ron Rehn, chief administrative officer for St. Joseph’s and Mount Carmel hospitals.
Providence held an open house Thursday to celebrate the completion of its expansion at Providence Family Medicine – Chewelah. The event began with an introduction and a blessing of the space before a walk-through. The $1.65 million project is expected to double the amount of patients and services.
Dr. Paul Larsen, lead physician for the clinic, said they now have 12 exam rooms instead of six, five providers and a full lab for additional patient testing, including blood sugar, diabetes and lead level screenings.
“We’re already seeing somewhere between 80 to 100 patients coming each day,” said Larsen, who has served Stevens County for more than 20 years.
He added that while the planning process began in 2023, there were several delays over the past three years that caused the project to take longer than expected. He said some of those setbacks were from financial concerns, including Medicaid and Medicare cuts. Another factor was difficulty recruiting enough providers to staff the facility.
However, once they were sure they had the money and the people for the space, they began construction in May 2025.
Rehn, who has been with Providence for more than four decades, said at the beginning of the event that the last time he was in the building was more than a decade ago, when it was Polanski’s Pizza. On the drive to the event, Rehn said his wife jokingly recalled the pizza she ordered at the time but also remembered that they had discussed the need for more clinical space even then.
“Basically, use your calculator there. It’s been a long timeline for me, and the transformation piece is that it’s just a gorgeous space,” Rehn said.
