The fourth-floor hallway of the Swedish Medical Center was packed with onlookers March 27 for the ribbon cutting for the new Swedish Community Health Medical Home.

The new primary-care clinic, which officially opens for use March 31, is the first at Swedish, and in the country, to open utilizing the medical home model exclusively from day one. The medical home model involves a patient-centered team of caregivers as well as information technology to provide better access for patients.

Washington State Secretary of Health Mary Selecky said the new medical home is a needed rebirth of the old idea of family doctors.

“What we know is that people who have a medical home get better care,” she said during the ceremony.

The clinic will also serve as a Family Medical Residency training site.

Carol Cordy, the Community Health clinic administrator, said the new clinic will bring medical care to a broader range of patients, whether they have insurance or not.

Instead of relying on insurance, patients at Community Health will pay a monthly fee, Cordy said.

“It’s like joining a health club,” she said. “You may not use it every week, but you always know there is a place you can go.”

Cordy said by freeing themselves from focusing on insurance, doctors will be able to spend more time with each patient instead of rushing to squeeze in as many as possible.

The biggest challenge for the new clinic is not knowing what the demand for it will be and whether they have enough staff to meet it, she said.

Swedish Medical Center Chief Executive Officer Rod Hochman said he sees the Community Health clinic as a step in the right direction toward necessary structural changes in medical care..

“If we don’t do things to change the way we deliver care, we’re not going to get the health care we need in the United States,” he said.