Plateau Family Medicine to Close Next Month

Plateau Family Medicine in Enumclaw is closing on March 15, 2013.

That's the announcement that currently sits on the practice's website (www.plateaufamilymedicine.net) and was also sent to the roughly 2,500 patients across the Plateau this week, predominantly in Enumclaw, Buckley and Bonney Lake.

The practice, currently run by Dr. Becky Rush and Dr. Deidre Feeney, has been a presence in Enumclaw since it started in 1996 on Cole Street, said clinic manager Staci Flowers.

Feeney helped found the practice and Rush joined in 2005, Flowers said. The practice moved to its current location behind Taco Time in 2009.

Over the years, the costs associated with operating a small two-doctor clinic simply got too high, said Flowers, particularly with insurance-led mandates on procedures like maintaining electronic medical records.

The practice tried to save itself by looking into adding a third doctor to the staff, and even to find a buyer in regional providers like MultiCare, said Flowers, but none were successful.

According to the practice's website, Rush will be seeing patients at the MultiCare Maple Valley Clinic at Four Corners and Feeney will be providing urgent care only at UW Medicine Valley Medical Center in Covington. There are more details for current patients online.

Plateau Family Medicine's care philosophy sought to provide well-rounded care to individuals and their entire family. "It was rural family care," said Flowers. "You take care of the whole person forever. ... it was a wonderful place to work."