The work is done on a new primary care clinic in Lacey, and military families will be smiling because it's a Tricare facility.

The clinic is called the Providence Multi-Service Clinic, and it is a collaborative venture between Pacific Medical Centers (PacMed) of Seattle and Providence Medical Group.

PacMed is a multi-specialty medical group with 11 clinics in the Puget Sound area.

Its network of clinics is one of the largest in the Puget Sound and offers patients more than 160 providers for primary and specialty care.

"We provide high quality care at low cost," said Moung Finh, PacMed's director of operations for PacMed's Uniformed Services Family Health Plan (USFHP), during a telephone interview.

The USFHP is a Department of Defense-sponsored healthcare plan that serves military family members exclusively.  

PacMed is an affiliate of Providence Health & Services, an arrangement announced in 2014.  

The 10,000-square-foot clinic is a first for PacMed in Lacey.

Newly remodeled, Providence will utilize half the clinic, and PacMed will operate in the other half.

With its 30-year relationship with the DoD and Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM), PacMed wants to best serve its military patients residing in Lacey and Thurston County.

"We wanted to know what the population was looking for, what could be done better," said Linda Marzano, PacMed CEO in an earlier statement.

Many patients from the JBLM community responded with the desire to see a clinic opened in the Thurston County/Lacey area.

"There was a larger need for more healthcare options in the area," continued Finh.

"There needed to be greater access and availability for care."

Now JBLM families living in and around Lacey have a clinic should the need arise.

The clinic will get busy.

PacMed's recently opened clinic in Lakewood serves as an example.

"It's been pretty amazing," continued Marzano, "as we've seen a significant number of new patients in Lakewood."

She also pointed out that the city's business leaders have talked about partnering with the Lakewood clinic for things like screenings at work.

"We have no doubt it will be the same in Lacey," Marzano added.

The Lacey clinic will begin with primary care services, followed by walk-in care at a later date.  In short order, the clinic will add specialty services.

While the new clinic will provide needed service to military families in the Lacey area, it will also strive to offer more.

The clinic is open to those covered under the USFHP and to private insurance patients.

"Military personnel at JBLM go through a lot, and when they come here they and their families will receive high quality care," said Finh.

"We have high member satisfaction year after year. I feel honored to work with this group; they are very dedicated to serving the country.  When they come here, we will be as dedicated to them as they are to us."

The Lacey clinic is located at 4800 College St. SE.  For more information, visit pacificmedicalcenters.org.

To learn more about the US Family Health Plan, visit usfhp.org.