ProMedica will open a dual emergency and urgent care clinic in Toledo, Ohio through a partnership with Intuitive Health, the health system said Tuesday.
The 11,000-square-foot-facility will be the first of its kind in northwest Ohio and will eliminate the need for patients to self-diagnose themselves before trying to decide to go to urgent care or the emergency department, ProMedica said. The hope is that the new model will simplify access to care and lower out-of-pocket costs for patients.
"Healthcare is changing, and consumers are demanding better service with an emphasis on convenience, safety and value" Intuitive Health CEO Thom Herrmann said in a statement. "Our combined emergency and urgent care model provides the convenience and efficiency of a top retailer, while delivering the highest level of clinical care and customer service that patients demand."
Herrmann said more than 70% of Intuitive Health's patients are treated and billed at the urgent care level.
ProMedica Toledo Hospital Emergency and Urgent Care will have a full-service ED open 24 hours a day, and an urgent care open 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day. It will have on-site lab equipment, a radiology suite with X-ray and multi-slice CT scanners and will be staffed with board-certified, ED-licensed physicians, ProMedica said. An ED physician will examine each patient and what kind of care is needed. Before treatment, patients will be notified if they will be treated as an urgent care or an emergency department patient. Patients will be able to come in without an appointment but also can pre-register online.
Dawn Buskey, ProMedica president of acute care, said she hopes the new clinic will make ProMedica Toledo Hospital services more accessible for patients who live or work in the Toledo suburb, Maumee, and the surrounding communities.
Dallas-based Intuitive Health has helped health systems create hybrid urgent care and emergency department clinics since 2008.
Toledo-based ProMedica operates 13 hospitals, four ambulatory surgery centers and more than 400 post-acute facilities.
