UMass Memorial, CareWell announce urgent care affiliation
Two months after hinting that it would collaborate with Carewell Urgent Care in the Worcester area, UMass Memorial Health Care has formally announced its affiliation with the Quincy-based urgent care operator.
The first two UMass Memorial-affiliated CareWell Urgent Care centers, located at 500 Lincoln St. and 348 Greenwood St. in Worcester, will open on July 15. A third site, planned for Northborough, is slated to open in October. Additional affiliated sites throughout central Massachusetts will open over the next 12 to 18 months, according to a statement from both organizations.
“As the largest health care provider in the region, UMass Memorial Health Care understands the importance of urgent care in the spectrum of health care services today’s consumers expect,” Dr. Eric Dickson, president and CEO of UMass Memorial, said. “This affiliation will help integrate care by establishing relationships between UMass Memorial emergency departments, primary care physicians and medical specialists, and CareWell Urgent Care providers.”
CareWell centers offer treatment to patients with urgent, yet non-life threatening, illnesses and injuries, and select preventative care services such as flu shots and other vaccinations and sports physical exams. They also have laboratory and X-ray capabilities on site.
CareWell patients will be referred to UMass Memorial specialists and hospitals when necessary, while UMass Memorial patients will be referred to CareWell centers when appropriate, which will result in reduced wait times and costs for patients, according to the statement.
“Patients can often be treated with the same quality of care, and much more quickly, at an urgent care center than in emergency rooms. This affiliation means our patients will get the care they need in the most efficient way possible,” CareWell CEO Shaun Ginter said.
CareWell is the state’s largest single operator of urgent care centers, and it expects to open additional sites this year, the statement said.
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.
The organizations cited data from the Urgent Care Association of America in Thursday’s statement 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 Urgent Care 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.
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