Primary and specialty care come together in expanded clinic

Sanford Health’s Veterans Square Clinic in Fargo, North Dakota, has undergone an expansion that more than doubles its size and dramatically expands the number of providers offering pediatric specialty care.

This new version of the clinic, which opens in mid-December, will make specialized care for children more convenient. Those whose visits involve primary and specialty care will often be able to take care of those visits the same day in the same building.

For Saysomone Shea and her young daughter Landon, they can now make one trip to see their primary care provider Stephanie Antony, M.D., and specialty care provider Luis Casas, M.D., a pediatric endocrinologist who will be joining other additional physicians and providers at the clinic.

“It’s the convenience of going to one place,” said Shea, whose daughter Landon was born 12 weeks prematurely and spent 93 days in intensive care with congenital hypothyroidism.

Both Landon and her twin brother are now healthy toddlers. The medical visits that can come with premature births have been part of the Shea family’s life, however.

“All the milestones that had to be reached have been reached both for her and her brother,” Shea said. “We’re pretty blessed. I was thinking if I lived outside of Fargo, how convenient the clinic would be. I was also thinking about our providers. They can catch up with each other in the hallway if they want. That’s a big advantage, too.”

Pediatric specialties that will now be at the Veterans Square Clinic include endocrinology, nephrology, neurology, infectious disease, rheumatology, sleep medicine and genetics. What was originally a 5,957-square-foot facility is now over 16,000 square feet with 30 additional exam rooms.

“Sometimes when we coordinate services now the patient has to jump around town going to different places,” Dr. Casas said. “More specialists in the same location will make it easier for patients and their families.”

Because Sanford Health is one of the only pediatric specialty care providers in North Dakota, many patients come in from out of town. The clinic’s proximity to the hospital is helpful, too, for those who are traveling long distances for specialty care.

“It makes it easy for patients if they have procedures at the hospital on the same day,” Dr. Casas said. “And it also brings the specialists closer to the hospital where we can easily run between the clinic and the hospital to care for patients on both sides.”

Dr. Antony works at the Veterans Square Clinic now and will be welcoming new colleagues soon. In addition to the added convenience for patients, it will help providers.

“It’s going to be nice to have so many in one location,” Dr. Antony said. “It’s going to be nice for the pediatricians to be able to go chat with specialists. If you have questions, it’s fairly easy to get a hold of them now, but now with the expansion we’ll have the chance to just go down the hall and talk to them in person.”

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Children’s, Family Medicine, Fargo, Specialty Care

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