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Intermountain opens hybrid primary‑care clinic in Wells; cannot yet dispense prescriptions on-site
Summary
Intermountain Health’s Wells Clinic, open about a year, provides a hybrid model of in‑person and telehealth primary care and is contracted with major payers but cannot yet dispense medications from the clinic, clinic leaders said at an Elko County Board of Health meeting.
Intermountain Health’s Wells Clinic in Wells, Nevada, has been open for about a year and combines in‑person visits with telehealth to provide primary care to the small rural community, a senior clinic manager told the Elko County Board of Health.
"Our goal is really to provide accessible, high quality care, whether patients walk through the doors or connect with us virtually," said Sarah Isham, senior practice manager at Intermountain, during the board’s meeting.
The Wells Clinic operates as a hybrid primary‑care site, Isham said, and offers a broad range of services including vaccines for children and adults, Medicare annual wellness visits, DOT physicals, family planning, sports physicals and routine lab services. The clinic is contracted with several payers, Isham said, including Aetna, Anthem Nevada, CHIP, Medicare, Nevada Medicaid, SelectHealth, Tricare and Tricare West Veterans, and staff continue to pursue additional payer contracts.
The clinic’s on‑site team includes nurse practitioner Tricia Sears, clinic manager Nancy Abrams and medical assistant Vonda Smith, Isham said. Planned expansions include in‑clinic x‑ray, CO2 testing, point‑of‑care lead testing, home sleep study services and efforts to address local pharmacy needs.
"At the moment, we cannot dispense medications at our clinic," Isham said. "We can, of course, prescribe, but patients do have to drive to a pharmacy to get their prescriptions." She added that the clinic is exploring virtual pharmacy partnerships and other state‑level licensing steps to enable local dispensing.
Board members thanked the clinic for its rural access model and welcomed the team’s work to reduce travel burdens for patients.
Isham said the Wells Clinic also was recently featured in an internal Intermountain caregiver brief distributed to the organization’s staff, framing the site as a "click‑and‑mortar" model combining virtual and in‑person care.
The clinic remains focused on expanding local services and payer coverage so more patients can receive care without traveling outside the community.
