In Cache Valley, getting in to see a primary care provider can sometimes mean a long wait.
As the population continues to grow, the number of available doctors hasn’t quite kept pace. But a new medical clinic that opened in Logan is aiming to help meet that rising demand.
Intermountain Health opened its new East Clinic Wednesday, located at 550 East 1400 North on the Logan Regional Hospital campus. The clinic will offer family medicine and senior primary care to better serve the area’s expanding population, said Jana Huffman, vice president of operations for the medical group for Intermountain Health.
“Everybody having access to health care is really what Intermountain is all about,” Huffman said. “Our mission is helping people live the healthiest lives possible. And the way we do that really is to have care when people need it and how they need it.”
The East Clinic adds two new doctors to the area’s healthcare system: Dr. Ryan Allen, a primary care physician, and Dr. Landon Watts, a geriatrician who will focus on senior care.
Huffman said Dr. Watts will be the only physician in Cache Valley specializing in complex geriatric care, making it easier for patients who previously had to rely on non-specialists or travel to the Wasatch Front for care.
“As you’re getting older, you might not be able to drive any longer, and you have caregivers or family who are helping you,” Huffman said. “This will keep them close and make it, hopefully, a lot easier for those patients to get care.”
Primary care Dr. Ryan Allen, who earned his undergraduate degree from Utah State University, said he’s excited to return to Logan — a place he knows well from college and childhood. He said he is excited to help address the area’s growing challenge of access to primary care.
“It's pretty common for people to say, ‘I couldn't go see my family doctor, so I went to the ER, the urgent care,’” Allen said. “And care in those places is still good, but it's more expensive, and people don't need to go to the ER if they stubbed their toe. So they can come see us.”
