Health system closing membership-based practice

Health system closing membership-based practice

STR!VE's upscale lobby area is designed to make patients forget about the harsh fluorescent lighting and sparse features in some more traditional doctors’ offices. Courtesy Spectrum Health

A local health system is closing a membership-based primary care practice downtown.

Spectrum Health will close its STR!VE clinic, at 161 Ottawa Ave. NW, on Aug. 31.

The practice opened in 2017 as a “whole body preventative approach to long-term wellness.”

For a $159 annual fee, member patients received a personalized wellness plan, discounted services at local wellness clubs and organizations, full access to primary care physicians and genome testing.

The goal was to have 2,500 member patients, but the practice has about 1,300, according to Dr. Alejandro Quiroga, VP of medical affairs, Spectrum Health.

While the community might not have been interested enough to fulfill the membership goal, Quiroga said Spectrum plans to integrate the personalized wellness-focused care approach into all of its primary care practices.

The practice has two doctors and five other employees. They are being transferred to other Spectrum practices, except for one doctor, who plans to launch a private practice, Quiroga said.

The health insurer Priority Health, which is part of Spectrum Health, will take over the 4,500-square-foot space.