Evergreen Family Health partners consolidating practice locations
Evergreen Family Health Partners is announcing consolidation of three of their four offices into one central location that will reduce costs, increase efficiency, and stabilize the practice for the long-term. A newly fit-up modern medical practice at White Cap Business Park in Williston is planned for late summer to accommodate all practitioners and staff from Evergreen Family Health in Williston, including Evergreen Sports Medicine and x-ray, Evergreen Family Health in Essex Junction, and Charlotte Family Health Center, which is currently in temporary space at Shelburne Green. “We have been divided not only by the pandemic, but we have been physically separated into multiple sites as a result of growth fueled by the ever-rising need for high-quality primary care,” reports Michael Johnson, M.D., managing partner. Alder Brook Family Health, located on Essex Way in Essex, joined the Evergreen Family Health Group in 2018, and will remain in their current location.
Evergreen became an independent medical practice in 2002. Charlotte Family Health Center joined the group in 2017 and relocated to Shelburne in 2019 while exploring a possible new building in Charlotte. Dr. Andrea Regan, Evergreen partner at the Charlotte practice, explained: “We looked for every opportunity to stay in the Shelburne/Charlotte area to remain convenient for our many local patients, but the ability to maintain a small independently owned office in Vermont’s health care environment is challenging.”
During 2021, several Evergreen Williston practitioners relocated to Main Street in Essex Junction to allow for more clinical space and physical distancing. Evergreen Sports Medicine was established as a consult service in 2020 with the addition of x-ray and two additional sports medicine physicians. “It was the commitment to meet the strong demand for independent primary care practitioners, the need to accommodate more accessibility for our primary care and sports medicine patients, and to lower costs that necessitated our new facility,” said Senior Partner Paul Reiss, M.D. “We are excited for our patients and our staff. We are confident that we can bring our culture of personal care to this wonderful new location, and trust that our patients will be supportive of this move.
This move will allow the efficiency of combining three laboratories and reception areas, reducing redundant equipment and phone/IT systems, while promoting improved teamwork between practitioners, nursing staff, mental health practitioners and other ancillary staff. On-site x-ray and social work services will become more broadly available, and Evergreen Sports Medicine will have further expansion space. Evergreen participates in the Vermont Blueprint for Health, and all offices are certified as patient-centered medical homes by the NCQA. They are committed to continued participation with government programs, including Medicaid and Medicare.
Evergreen has signed a long-term lease with White Cap Ventures to design and build a cost-efficient and modern facility that respects privacy, patient safety, and accommodates 18 practitioners. “Medical practices do not often move. This is a huge undertaking and we are approaching this transition with a very long-term perspective,” adds Dr. Johnson.