Jason Zerrer, Providence Urgent Care
- Providence Urgent Care now has two locations, though neither of is located on Providence Road. What’s the deal? Our original clinic was slated to go in at a location on Providence. Things didn’t work out at the last minute after our business was already formed, and we ultimately decided to keep the name rather than go with a DBA situation.
- Most doctors don’t go the route you’ve gone with Providence Care, being a business owner and a doctor. What made you decide that was the road you wanted to take? Dr. [Scott] Schultz and I were both attendings at the University ER. We recognized an obvious need for urgent care in south Columbia that coincided with some dissatisfaction with upper management at the time. Private was the way to go to allow us to control all aspects of the business and avoid as much red tape as possible.
- What are its benefits? Issues? The greatest benefit is the ability to control the quality of care that is given from the front desk through the physician. We can address any areas that need improvement quickly and decisively. However, we have had to learn to deal with issues on the fly in many instances, and it can be tough to carve out the time for administrative work when you are busy taking care of patients 11-plus hours of the day. Days that are truly off don’t come around that often.
- What market situations encouraged you to start Providence Urgent Care, and what factors continue to affect your business? We saw a busy ER with many conditions that could be treated in the urgent care setting. There was an obvious vacancy of urgent care in south Columbia, which made the decision to start there easy. Urgent care is hot right now throughout the country. Competition and insurance reimbursement are two of the factors that will always have an ongoing effect on the business.
- It’s been reported that Providence Urgent Care will open a third facility in the buildings now under construction at the Broadway Market Place. When do you expect that facility to open? How many employees will that facility staff? We expect the new facility to open late summer. That facility will staff eight to nine new employees.
- Are there any plans to open a fourth facility? You never know.
- What are your strategies for growth in the New Year? We will continue to maintain market presence utilizing our media partners, become more convenient and accessible with the opening of the third clinic and, most importantly, continue to concentrate on providing the highest standard of acute care for our patients that we can.
- How has the Affordable Care Act affected your business to date? The effect of the ACA has been relatively small but positive in my opinion. We have seen more patients who previously did not have health insurance.