St. Mark Village, a continuing care retirement community in Palm Harbor, FL, has added a full-service, primary care clinic run by Curana Health. It opened Jan. 4 and serves residents and employees.

The CCRC identified the need for an on-site clinic “just in talking to our residents, what their concerns are, what their needs are. You know, more and more people want to age in place, and they just need that level of care,” St. Mark Village CEO and President Jeff Gorddard told the McKnight’s Business Daily. 

“The regulations are not making us do it, but we knew it needed to happen because of the acuity people we get now,” Vice President of Healthcare Services Randall Rees added.

The CCRC sits on 12 acres in Pinellas County and offers independent living, short-term and long-term skilled nursing, assisted living and memory care. The clinic is available for primary care and urgent care for residents at all levels of care and operates independently from the CCRC. Curana Health rents space from the community.

“So not only can they [residents] stay in the building to go to their appointment; if needed, the physician can go to their apartment and see them, do house calls,” Gorddard said.

Residents may sign on to have Curana Health as their primary provider, but it is not required, Gorddard said. They also can use the services as needed and keep their own physicians if they prefer, he said. 

“We have some residents who’ve been with their physician for 20, 30, 40 years. We’re not asking them to give that relationship up. This just supplements that for a need,” Rees said.

The Curana Health Clinic at St. Mark Village offers a variety of services, such as blood pressure checks, ear cleanings, lab draws, therapeutic injections, medication management and refills, and wound care, for example, according to the CCRC. The clinic bills insurance companies directly.

Anthony Washington III, MD, and Teresa Clark, APRN, FNP-C, staff the clinic and typically see people within 24 hours of a request, Rees said.

“And then they’re really seeing them every day that’s needed. Some people, that means every day. Some people, it’s just a couple days a week,” Rees said. “But the presence is just raising our level of care, or our quality of care significantly.”

The Curana Health clinic is an added benefit for St. Mark Village employees. Its presence on campus may cut down on absenteeism in the long run as well, Rees noted, because employees won’t have to take time off for appointments, but rather can schedule them at their convenience without ever leaving the building.

“I think it was the second day that my executive assistant had a cough and Teresa came down with the stethoscope and listened to her and diagnosed her and got her medication, and she’s doing better and didn’t have to miss any time,” Rees said.

The skilled nursing part of St. Mark Village recently earned a five-star rating in all three healthcare categories by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The organization also was recognized by US News as a 2023-2024 Best Independent Living, Memory Care, and Continuing Care Retirement Community in 2023. Most recently, St. Mark Village ranked fourth among CCRCs in the Sunshine State and 22nd in the nation by the first-ever list of America’s best CCRCs compiled by Newsweek and global market research and consumer data firm Statista.