Jacob Dimond / jake@yelmonline.com
A much-needed milestone for health care services in the Nisqually Valley region has been reached, as MultiCare Indigo celebrated the opening of its urgent care facility in Yelm with a ribbon-cutting event on Thursday, May 22.
Located in Yelm’s Medical Plaza just off Tahoma Boulevard, MultiCare Indigo’s urgent care facility officially opened its doors to the community on Tuesday, May 27. It will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day.
Representatives from various organizations and entities in Yelm and Thurston County were in attendance for the event, including Yelm Mayor Joe DePinto, Yelm Public Works Director Cody Colt, Thurston County Commissioner Rachel Grant, mayoral candidate JW Foster and others.
Mark Mariani, chief medical officer with MultiCare Indigo, was also present at the opening of Yelm’s newest medical facility. He said the organization has heard the community’s desire for an urgent care facility in Yelm for a long time, and he’s happy to see it finally come to fruition.
“This is exciting and longstanding. We’ve been thinking about this and listening to our team members asking for an Indigo in Yelm,” Mariani told the Nisqually Valley News on Thursday, May 22, before the ribbon-cutting ceremony. “The community has been saying it for years. This has more anticipation than most of our Indigo urgent cares opening.”
Mariani believes that the opening of MultiCare Indigo in Yelm fulfills the organization’s overall mission. He described the ribbon-cutting ceremony as “personally fulfilling.”
“I think everyone on our team would say it is, because we serve as part of a larger organization, and our mission is to create access,” Mariani said. “When you actually get to do it and not just talk about it, it’s so fulfilling.”
Mariani said he not only believes the organization is fulfilling its mission with the opening of MultiCare Indigo in Yelm, but he knows it will be a service of quality for the community.
“We pride ourselves on having the best service available,” Mariani said. “One, we want it to be warm and empathetic care when they come in. Two, we also want to be trusted.”
Mariani believes the availability of Yelm’s MultiCare Indigo urgent care center will pay dividends to the local community. The new urgent care facility will join Yelm Family Medicine and Sea Mar Community Health Center as medical services in the Yelm area.
“You have great health care already, but to be able to create more is helpful. Not having to drive in 40 minutes to have a quick visit is the biggest thing. People have lives to live,” Mariani said. “We’ll try to be open 365 days a year and 12 hours a day.”
MultiCare Indigo and Mariani are also thankful for the various partnerships formed throughout the process of bringing the organization to Yelm.
“This requires partnerships. Nobody could do this alone. We have a tremendous team that does it, and we have a team member who leads construction with our partners. We have a marketing team — everyone is working together in this,” Mariani said. “The important thing is you can’t do this without community. If you have a community that’s been supporting like Yelm has been, it makes it so much easier to do the project. When I say easier, it goes by faster for us to be able to get these resources for the community.”
