CareWell-UMass Memorial urgent care sites set for debut

Two CareWell Urgent Care centers in Worcester, affiliated with UMass Memorial Health Care, will open July 15, joining a growing sector of the health care industry in Central Massachusetts.

Last month, CareWell, based in Quincy, and UMass Memorial announced their affiliation for three urgent care centers. A third is expected to open in Northborough in October. Additional affiliated sites throughout Central Massachusetts will open over the next 12 to 18 months, both organizations said last month.

The Worcester sites are at 500 Lincoln St. and 348 Greenwood St.

“CareWell is thrilled to launch this new affiliation with UMass Memorial Health Care,” CareWell CEO Shaun Ginter said in a statement. “More importantly, we are excited for what this means for the community. By working together, CareWell Urgent Care and UMass Memorial Health Care have created an integrated healthcare solution that will ensure that residents receive the highest quality health care affordably, conveniently and efficiently.”

CareWell clinics will be able to refer patients to UMass Memorial specialists and primary care physicians when necessary, a statement from the company read. And UMass Memorial can now refer appropriate patients to nearby CareWell centers, which will reduce wait times and costs for non-urgent illnesses and injuries. CareWell said the locations of the two clinics in relation to the three UMass Memorial hospital campuses in Worcester – all within a mile of the sites – will ensure that the referrals can be made quickly and conveniently, even in an emergency.

“Our affiliation with CareWell … will benefit our patients greatly by providing them access to quality urgent care services,” Eric Dickson, president and CEO of UMass Memorial Health Care, said in the statement.

In April, Dickson said UMass Memorial planned to collaborate with CareWell to identify synergies between the organizations, as both looked to enter the urgent care market in Central Massachusetts.

Last month, the organizations cited data from the Urgent Care Association of America to illustrate growth in the urgent care industry: Forty percent of the nation's roughly 9,000 urgent care companies currently have plans to expand, according to the association.

In Central Massachusetts, other urgent care players include Reliant Medical Group, which operates four ReadyMED clinics in Auburn, Milford, Hudson and Shrewsbury and plans to expand in Worcester; urgent care franchise Doctor's Express, which has locations in Natick and Marlborough and plans to expand in Worcester in partnership with the Central Massachusetts Independent Physicians Organization; and Tenet Health Care, parent of Saint Vincent Hospital and MetroWest Medical Center, which is planning to open a center under its MedPost Urgent Care brand in Franklin in September, and possibly in Marlborough in the future.

CareWell said all locations are open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week. Additional information can be found at www.carewellurgentcare.com.