Unity Care NW Family NP - Bellingham​/Ferndale

Position: Unity Care NW - 002 - Family NP - Bellingham/Ferndale

The Area

Bellingham has a population of 95,000. It is 1 hour and 15 minutes south of Vancouver, Canada and 1 hour and 30 minutes north of Seattle.


The Group

Unity Care NW provides affordable primary medical, dental, behavioral health, and pharmacy services for children and adults. With a focus on prevention, our integrated care team provides comprehensive coordination of your health care needs. All of our medical and psych providers are board-certified and provide high-quality health care in a respectful, coordinated, and caring manner for the whole person, the whole family, and the whole community.


The Position

• Ideal candidate
  • Has completed multiple locum NP assignments
  • Already has WA State license
  • Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) or similar experience working with diverse & underserved populations including unhoused populations
  • Able to ramp up quickly
  • Able to meet productivity expectations (described below)
  • Can meet the core privileging requirements per the attached privileging form
  • Medications for Opioid Use Disorder (MOUD) experienced preferred
  • HIV experience preferred

• Name, address & description of sites assignment may be at any of these sites which are within 10 miles of each other
  • Main clinic at 220 Unity Street, Bellingham, WA 98225 Outpatient Primary Care Clinic seeing all ages/no OB
  • North Whatcom Health Center at 6060 Portal Way, Ferndale, WA 98248 (only 10 miles from main clinic) Outpatient Primary Care Clinic seeing all ages/no OB
  • The Way Station at 1500 North State Street, Bellingham, WA 98225 Outpatient Same Day Care with Unhoused Individuals for Ages 16 & up

• Reason for locum coverage
  • Offset the impact of provider vacancies and FTE reductions
  • To cover patient panels and/or provide same day care at a primary care clinic and/or a

• Recruitment steps
  • Phone interview with Provider Recruiter
  • Zoom panel interview with Medical Leadership
  • Review references the agency checked if provider is new to agency &/or summaries of agency's feedback from provider's previous assignments

• Assignment Dates
  • Start date ASAP but no sooner than 4 weeks from confirmation date to allow for privileging
    • Contingent upon credentialing & approval of privileges
    • Timely return of credentialing paperwork is essential
  • 6 months preferred
  • Open to extending (preferred)
  • Open to permanent placement optional

• Schedule
  • May work four 10-hour days or five 8-hour days flexibility preferred
    • If working 10-hour days, the day off may be any day of the week, not just a Fri or Mon
  • Schedule may change mid assignment
  • Full time is 36 patient contact hours & 4 admin hours
    • Admin includes inbox management, phone calls, review of lab results, completion of charting
• No Overtime
  • UCNW will not pay overtime to locum providers unless it is pre-approved

• Productivity expectations

• • Weeks 1 & 2 spent in orientation before seeing patients
  • Week 3 begin patient care with ramp-up schedule
  • Week 4 continue patient care with full schedule seeing 90 patients per week

• Hospital privileges
  • No hospital work

• Call
  • No call

• EMR/Charting
  • Epic
  • Dragon available for charting
  • Charting must be completed within 48 hours of patient visit

• Certifications
  • Board Certified in FM
  • Able to see ALL ages including newborns

• Staffing
  • Mix of Physicians, Nurse Practitioners & Physician Assistants
  • Most have a panel of patients except a few who provide same day care & inbox coverage
  • MAs
  • Care Coordinator MAs
  • RNs for Triage, Care Management & Clinic Nursing
  • BH Consultants through
  • Friendly & collaborative team environment

• Resources
  • Up To Date
  • MAVEN Project to connect with specialists
  • EMR & IT support
  • Patient resources include integrated behavioral health, psychiatry, SUD treatment, child & family counseling, adult & pediatric dental services, an on-site pharmacy, a communicable disease program, case managers, community health workers, referrals specialists, insurance enrollment, medical records & more

• Vaccine Requirements
  • Annual flu vaccines REQUIRED
  • Request for medical or religious exemption must be submitted immediately upon presentation and is subject to approval

• Housing
  • Prefer locum agency arrange housing & invoice us for reimbursement or
  • Per diem based on GSA at

• Travel
  • If flying, airfare to assignment upon start & airfare home from assignment at end or
  • If driving, mileage reimbursement to assignment upon start & mileage reimbursement home from assignment at end

• Car Rental
  • Reimbursement for monthly cost of car rental if Locum NP flies to our assignment

• Information on position, UCNW & the community attached or linked:
  • ARNP Job Description;
  • Family Practice Provider privileging form;
  • UCNW Credentialing & Privileging policy;
  • UCNW mission, vision & values in action;
  • our website at ;
  • a list of Whatcom County community resources & activities;
  • information on Federally Qualified Health Centers at ;
  • information on the City of Bellingham & Whatcom County at ; and
  • a video we produced on our organization at .

• Deadline
  • Open until filled continue pursuing candidates until we notify you the position has been filled