Visitors to the CMH Seaside Clinic.

CMH Urgent Care in Seaside will debut after a nearly one-year construction process with a mid-February opening.

Columbia Memorial Hospital began looking for space in Seaside more than three years ago, when Don Larson, Seaside’s mayor at the time, asked CEO Erik Thorsen what would it take” to get hospital services in the South County.

With an emphasis on original art, decor, an emphasis on quality food, a spiritual component and alternative therapies, “You’re going to think, ‘Wow, this feels different from other facilities I’ve been in,’” Thorsen said at a walk-through of the facility with members of the Seaside Chamber of Commerce.

The clinic, in the Outlet Mall in the 12,000-square-foot site of the former Dress Barn, will offer urgent care, primary, specialty care, labs and a pharmacy with home delivery.

The new CMH clinic will follow the model of the hospital’s Warrenton clinic, offering primary care, urgent care, X-ray and labs.

CMH Medical Group Director of Operations Jeanette Schacher pointed to the county’s need. CMH’s urgent care facilities in Warrenton saw about 15,000 patients this year, she told members of the Seaside Chamber of Commerce on a tour of the new facility, and emergency care had about 14,000 visitors.

Providence Seaside Hospital has seen another 11,000 emergency patients this year, Thorsen added.

When the clinic is filled and fully staffed, it will provide 25 to 35 new jobs, he said. CMH overall will have between 750 and 775 employees, the second largest employer in Clatsop County.

Primary care is scheduled to arrive in March, with one physician and one nurse practitioner. Other services anticipated include OB/GYN, maternity care, three days a week, pre-op and surgery.

A podiatrist, the first in the South County, starts March 9. Patients at CMH in Astoria who are receiving surgery there can get pre-op services in Seaside.

CEO Thorsen said the facility embraces the Planetree model, which “puts our patients at the center of everything.”

The facility offers a “pod” design, with a pod for urgent care, primary care, specialty care and OB/GYN. Each pod has a room for minor procedures.

“We’ve moved away from a model where physicians have their own office,” Thorsen said. “We believe team care is best. We partner up the physician right next to their medical assistants, so they share a workspace together.”

Transition of the space from retail to a medical facility cost about $3.5 million in improvements with equipment and upgrades.

According to CMH property manager Randy Stemper, the biggest challenges converting the mechanical, electrica and plumbing. “We had to take out most of the floor, to put all new plumbing in,” Stemper said. “We had to redo the main line out of the building. It’s all brand new heating and air-conditioning fully controlled for our space, as well as the electrical.”

A generator allows the facility to operate during an outage. In addition to that we brought our own generator in so we’re fully functional in a power outage.

Video capabilities in the conference room will allow providers to “beam in and out.”

“They can stay here and still participated in meetings in Astoria,” Thorsen said.