Growing clinic chain draws fans, critics

ZoomCare's Mississippi Avenue location is pictured here in 2011. The expanding company has since changed its name to Zoom and changed its logo.

(Thomas Boyd/The Oregonian/2011)

Protesters are gathering outside ZoomCare clinics in Portland and Seattle against the company's policy of refusing health care plans for the elderly and poor.

Zoom, which has several dozen clinics in the Portland area, Salem and Seattle area, does not accept Medicare, Medicaid or Tricare, a health care plan sponsored by the U.S. military. Protesters say that policy shifts the care of the old and poor to nonprofit providers.

"Segmenting the population like this is a prescription for inefficient and lower quality health care," a statement said.

The company's website says it cannot accept Medicare because the rates are too low.

Dr. Dave Sanders, chief executive and co-founder of the company, based in Hillsboro, said Zoom was created to serve a niche of people who want to use their phones to set up appointments and get quick neighborhood care. He says online services are prohibited by Medicare.

"It's not meant to take care of everybody," he said of Zoom. "We're one of the many options that will be out there. Don't think that we have to be all things to all people."

The company, which bills itself as an innovator, accepts a range of private insurance plans. Unlike other providers, it posts its prices on the wall.

Zoom has 33 clinics in Oregon and Washington, mostly in the Portland and Seattle areas.

The Portland protest is outside the ZoomCare clinic at 3325 S.E. Hawthorne Blvd. In Seattle, protesters are gathering at the ZoomCare clinic at 624 N. 34th St.

The protests will include union members and groups favoring a single-payer system. In Oregon, they're backed by Portland Jobs with Justice. In Washington state, the protests have been spearheaded by Puget Sound Advocates for Retirement Action, a group that supports the elderly.

-- Lynne Terry