A major need for McCall and the surrounding area is being addressed by a new St. Luke’s project currently underway.

St. Luke’s McCall has begun remodeling the Allen-Nokes Center, located on Forest Street, to house a new urgent care clinic. The clinic is projected to open in June of 2023 after a slight delay in acquiring materials for the project.

The clinic will be walk-in only and is expected to be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week.

“We are excited to get this project off the ground,” St. Luke’s McCall Chief Operating and Nursing Officer Amber Green said.

Once opened, the new urgent care clinic will replace the current same-day appointment services offered at St. Luke’s Clinic – Payette Lakes Family Medicine. The same-day clinic providers will transition to the new urgent care clinic.

“More than 45% of the 6,538 emergency room visits at St. Luke’s McCall in 2019 were considered ‘less urgent’ and could have been handled by an urgent care clinic,” Green said.

Projections anticipate serving 8,000 people per year in the urgent care clinic, increasing capacity by an additional 2,000 visits per year.

“Having expanded hours with an urgent care clinic will help us better serve our community’s needs and reduce the need for people to seek care through the emergency department when they can be better served at a more affordable option through urgent care,” Green said.

The Allen-Nokes Center currently houses St. Luke’s orthopedic and general surgery clinics and sleep lab services. The sleep lab will move to the new hospital expansion when it opens in the spring of 2023, while the other clinics will remain in place during and after the remodel.

The remodel will include three new urgent care exams rooms, procedure room, shared registration, waiting area and support space. This will be in addition to the orthopedic surgery’s existing four exam rooms and procedure room.

The orthopedic clinic X-ray machine, installed earlier this year, will also be used to support the urgent care clinic.

The projected cost of the remodel is $2.8 million. The McCall Memorial Hospital District has committed to fund $2 million from St. Luke’s FY22 and FY23 funding request and the St. Luke’s McCall Foundation has raised more than $850,000 through the generosity of community donations and grants.