A One Medical reception area (Image: One Medical)

Amazon Go Grocery, the future of grocery shopping, just opened on Capitol Hill. The future of office space, some say, is now resident in five stories of WeWork on 11th Ave between Pine and Pike. And on Broadway, the future of health care — for some — is set to debut replacing one of the street’s few chain restaurants this fall.

In a year beginning with the arrival of COVID-19 and a battle over health insurance on the way to the White House, One Medical and its approach to so-called “concierge medicine” is set to open later this year in the Broadway Building just north of E Pine.

“One Medical is excited to expand to Capitol Hill for many reasons, but mainly the vibrancy of the neighborhood and the ability to reach our ever-expanding memberbase,” a company representative tells CHS. “Being adjacent to Downtown allows us to be convenient to members where they live (as well as where they work, from our Downtown & South Lake Union locations). The Broadway corridor was particularly attractive because of the proximity to the great retail and food scenes of Capitol Hill, and proximity to the Seattle Link Light Rail station.”

The Broadway location, lined up join the company’s first three locations in Seattle in downtown, Fremont, and South Lake Union, will feature eight patient rooms and an onsite lab in the space set to be built out of the longtime location of Panera Bread, a rare chain restaurant to last a decade on Capitol Hill that finally closed in February after months of declining business.

One Medical, which just went public and is now trading as a $2.55 billion company, markets itself as being much more than a minute clinic. The service, the company PR goes, “was founded on a better model of care – one designed around patients’ needs that provides a higher level of quality and service affordably.”

“We do this through innovative design, excellent customer service, and the efficient use of technology,” they write.

At its core is One Medical’s $199 annual fee that gives its primary care patients access to features like same day appointments, “on-demand video visits,” and the ability to text with One Medical physicians.

Customers can also choose to utilize the Broadway location’s medical services for “common illnesses and urgent care concerns,” “mental health concerns and chronic health conditions” without being members but they’ll miss out on all the technology-driven bells and whistles.

You probably won’t be surprised to learn that most of One Medical’s first generation of customers are part of the service through an employment benefit package. Google is an investor and its employees are a large portion of One Medical’s current customer base.

One Medical also says it offers “member financial assistance” options “for those who may be experiencing financial hardship.”

The new tenant in the Hunters Capital-owned building will require a change of use process with the city after its first life as a Panera cafe. One Medical’s planned fall arrival will add to a proliferation of clinics along Broadway that cropped up with the growth of the industry and the arrival of Capitol Hill Station serving the neighborhood. Not all have thrived. Late last year, CHS reported on the exit of CityMD, the urgent care brand partnered with Tacoma’s CHI Franciscan Health, from its Broadway location after only two years. That project, too, brought a change of use as the former home of the Charlie’s on Broadway restaurant was transformed for the medical clinic. Three months later, it remains empty but ready for another provider to come along.

In addition to bringing new tenants and customers to Broadway, the clinics are also bringing some of the types of jobs you might be more accustomed to seeing at work on hospital-filled First Hill. The Capitol Hill One Medical is currently hiring for primary care providers, “specifically medical doctors or doctors of osteopathy.” Future hires include phlebotomists and “administrative assistants.” You can learn more on the One Medical careers page.

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