DignityHealth, GoHealth to open 12 urgent care centers in Bay Area
Companies project they will open 12 new urgent care centers in the next 12 to 15 months.
GoHealth Urgent Care and Dignity Health, one of the country's largest health systems, announced a new joint venture Tuesday that the companies say will provide greater access to "convenient care".
During the venture's first phase, the companies said they plan to launch 12 new urgent care facilities in the Bay Area over the next 12 to 15 months. The centers will operate seven days a week with extended evening hours, and will welcome walk-ins.
"Our partnership with GoHealth will provide more options to Bay Area residents for fast and convenient care in a lower cost setting," said Dr. Todd Strumwasser, Sr. Vice President of Operations for the Bay Area. "These urgent care centers will be staffed with Dignity Health clinicians so that we can meet consumers where they are and provide the high quality care that we are known to deliver."
[Also: Dignity Health divests holdings in coal energy, calls climate change a public health issue]
Additionally, each center will be equipped with basic laboratory and x-ray equipment to streamline the diagnostic process and treatment of non-emergency conditions. Dignity Health's electronic medical record system also will be integrated, providing a unified record system and more consistent care, the companies said.
"Our new urgent care model will provide Bay Area patients with an effortless, technology-enabled experience that is completely integrated into the full continuum of care," said Todd Latz, CEO of GoHealth.
[Also: Dignity Health, Optum join forces]
GoHealth currently operates urgent care centers in New York and Portland, Oregon, and currently partners with other large health systems like Northwell Health, New York's largest health system, and Legacy Health, the largest nonprofit health system in the Portland-Vancouver area.
Dignity Health, which is headquartered in San Francisco, is a 21-state system with roughly 9,000 physicians, and 400 care centers including hospitals, urgent care, imaging centers and primary care clinics among other facilities.
Twitter: @BethJSanborn
