Health systems that offer urgent care are expanding access for their patients, says Chris Kane, a consultant with Progressive Healthcare.įifteen years ago, many health systems avoided offering urgent care centers because they didn’t want to offend local physicians who saw the urgent care business as competition, he says.īut that fear, Kane says, has evaporated for several reasons, including more public demand for urgent care, which also takes pressure off overcrowded emergency rooms. Peachtree Immediate Care, which is part of the Emory Healthcare Network, has a larger number of urgent care centers. Lavater says the Piedmont urgent care network, a for-profit entity that’s a joint venture with Atlanta-based Piedmont Healthcare, is the largest in the state by the number of patients it handles. That figure is up 6 percent from 2018. And the number of urgent care facilities that are run by hospital systems is also on the rise. There are more than 9,000 urgent care centers in the United States, according to a report by the Urgent Care Association.
Ron Lavater, CEO of Piedmont Urgent Care by WellStreet, says “having the right cultural fit is so important and, like ours, Summit’s culture focuses on providing excellent patient care and outstanding customer service.” The acquisition of Summit brings centers in East Point, Fayetteville, Marietta, Newnan, Peachtree City, LaGrange and Carrollton into the network of Piedmont Urgent Care by WellStreet. Many patients using urgent care centers don’t have immediate access to a doctor’s office and want to avoid the expense of an emergency room visit. Piedmont Urgent Care by WellStreet has purchased Summit Urgent Care, a move that is just one sign of the explosive growth of urgent care as a convenient, walk-in choice for patients with non-life-threatening conditions. A Piedmont Healthcare joint venture has acquired nine more urgent care centers, expanding its network to 26, with another set to open this week.