On Friday, Oct. 15, the doors will close for the last time at the Fall

City Family Clinic, located at 33429 S.E. Redmond-Fall City Rd.

The clinic opened five years ago and has become a fixture in the

Fall City community. In fact, it was so successful, medical provider

Patricia Yetneberk decided to open a satellite office in North Bend. That facility

_ the North Bend Family Clinic, at 406 S. Main Ave. _ opened its doors

about a year ago.

Now the two offices are going to consolidate in North Bend.

According to clinic administrator Patrick Ritter, the decision wasn’t an easy one

to make, but the facility’s success required the change.

“Patient volume has increased so much in Fall City, we can’t

accommodate them,” he stated last week.

“We probably see two to three times as many patients in a half-day in Fall

City than we see here.

“But, we have limited space in Fall City. We have more space here,

more parking and the pharmacy is next door in the grocery store. The North

Bend office provides more amenities overall.”

Yetneberk, Ritter and the other staff member, medical

assistant Krystal Ritter _ Patrick’s sister _ had been splitting their time between

the two clinics. Now they’ll be able to work full time in a single office.

Ritter feels the patients will benefit from the consolidation,

including those who formerly used the Fall City office.

“They’re accepting it,” he said, “and they are willing to come

here. They liked the convenience of the Fall City office. Their kids could walk

to the clinic from school.

“Overall, business is getting much better here. We’re seeing a lot of

new patients from North Bend, and we’re really excited about going to

full schedule here.”

Ritter added that Fall City Clinic receptionist Kim Ortego would

move to the North Bend office to join the combined operation. A billing

person will be hired later in the month.

While upbeat about the coming move, he did admit it was hard to

say goodbye to that place where they started out.

“We have regrets,” Ritter concluded, “but this is the best

solution. We’re saddened, but we needed to move to a larger facility.”