Rockwood Clinic PS, the Spokane-based doctors group owned by Community Health Systems Inc., of Franklin, Tenn., has opened a new primary-care clinic on the West Plains and says it has at least two more planned to open here before the end of the year.

The Rockwood Airway Heights Clinic opened early this month and is located in a 4,000-square-foot space at 10414 W. U.S. Highway 2, in a shopping center anchored by a Walmart store, says Jennifer Miley, Rockwood's chief operating officer.

Miley says the family medicine clinic currently has one primary-care physician and a nurse practitioner, with space for a third provider to join the practice. The clinic also offers basic radiology and laboratory-test services, she says.

Vandervert Construction Inc., of Spokane, completed the tenant improvements to the space, Miley says, and has been involved in numerous other Rockwood projects here. She says the clinic is taking up what formerly were two separate suites in the building it's located in, one of which previously was used by a tanning salon and another space that hadn't yet been occupied.

In addition to that new practice, Miley says, Rockwood plans to expand its presence on Spokane's North Side with a primary-care clinic in a building at 605 E. Holland, just south of the Northpointe Plaza shopping center.

She says there is a growing need in the medical community here for more primary-care physicians because so many providers opt to practice in areas of specialty medicine.

"There is a huge need for primary care and family medicine for the community, and we have a hard time meeting that demand," Miley says.

The new North Side office is to be named Rockwood Northpointe Clinic, and it will occupy a 13,000-square-foot space. Miley says Rockwood also currently has a physical therapy office and a nephrology clinic in that building.

The Northpointe clinic is expected to open in October and will house six primary-care providers and four pediatricians, as well as specialists in ophthalmology and podiatry, Miley says. Radiology and lab services also will be available there.

A third clinic slated to open late this year is the Rockwood Liberty Lake Clinic, Miley says. It also will be a family practice and is to be located at 1326 N. Stanford Lane in a 10,000-square-foot stand-alone building, currently being constructed by Baker Construction & Development Inc., of Spokane. That clinic is planned to house four family practitioners and two pediatricians, as well as two or three physical therapists, she says.

Miley says that during the past year, Rockwood has been recruiting new physicians to staff its new family medicine clinics opening this year. Some of its established providers also will move to the new clinics, she says, so there will be a mix of current and new Rockwood doctors at each practice.

In addition to those three clinics, Miley says Rockwood also is considering opening a combined family medicine and urgent care walk-in clinic in the Integrated Medical Plaza, located at 601 W. Fifth. She says a specific timeline for when it might open that clinic hasn't been determined.