In its continued desire to expand its presence in Eastern Washington, Premera Blue Cross has broken ground on a new, primary-care center in Spokane Valley.

The 13,000-square-foot building is being constructed at 16009 E Indiana, east of the Interstate 90-Sullivan Road interchange and west of the Providence Urgent Care-Spokane Valley complex.

The clinic, which is expected to be the third Vivacity Care Center in the Spokane area, will employ up to 27 people. It will have 10 exam rooms and eight consulting rooms, says Dr. John Espinola, executive vice president of health care services for Premera.

Espinola says the Spokane Valley site will serve as the flagship location here for the Vivacity Care Centers.

Spokane-based Meridian Construction & Development Inc. is the general contractor and builder for the project. Bernardo|Wills Architects PC of Spokane is the project’s architect.

Premera, a health insurance provider, has teamed up with Seattle-based Vera Whole Health, which develops and operates primary-care centers. The first Vivacity Care Center opened at the start of the year at 9001 N. Country Homes Blvd., on Spokane’s North Side.

In January, Premera announced plans to open a Vivacity Care Center at 1601 N. Division, in a space near Gonzaga University that Einstein’s Bagels once occupied.

The centers will offer multiple full-time care teams, 30- to 60-minute appointments for whole health exams, round-the-clock phone and video access to doctors outside care center hours, prescription fills, laboratory work, and X-rays, according to Premera.

“Although it’s early, we’ve already seen success after opening our first primary care center earlier this year,” Espinola says.

“We knew our customers were struggling to get in with their primary-care doctors, so we decide to create a better experience for them from start to finish,” he says.