JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (Jan. 14, 2010) – Two of the most recognized health care leaders in Northeast Florida are uniting to offer urgent care patients a broader continuum of care for their medical needs.
Solantic walk-in urgent care and Baptist Health of Northeast Florida today announced their agreement to form an integrated, co-branded urgent care network in the greater Jacksonville area. The partnership will include all nine of the existing Solantic urgent care centers in North Florida, which will be jointly owned 50/50 by Solantic and Baptist, but will continue to be managed and staffed by Solantic.
The centers will be renamed Solantic Baptist Urgent Care in April 2010, once integration efforts are complete. Baptist and Solantic intend to grow the urgent care network, with three additional Jacksonville locations planned this year.
As it is the mission of both organizations to provide patients with access to quality, affordable health care, the joint venture is an important step in providing citizens of the Northeast Florida community an enhanced patient experience by offering even more access to continuity of care.
“Urgent care is a dimension of healthcare delivery that Baptist considers important to include as part of our comprehensive community health system,” said Hugh Greene, Baptist President and CEO. “As we have studied urgent care and considered many strategies for how to most effectively offer this service to the community, Solantic has emerged as the natural choice. Solantic is distinguished by the fact that board-certified physicians staff each of its centers. In addition, its high level of patient satisfaction is one of many indicators that Karen Bowling and her team have built a highly effective and successful model for urgent care.”
“While the services we offer are different, Solantic and Baptist Health’s mission and values are very similar,” said Karen Bowling, CEO of Solantic. “Baptist has long maintained an outstanding reputation for its commitment to the community and to its patients. I cannot think of a better partner for Solantic and look forward to what we will be able to accomplish together.”
The partnership will allow Baptist and Solantic to create a more integrated network that connects urgent care to the broader resources of a comprehensive health system.
“We intend to make it easy for Solantic patients who need follow-up care to leave the urgent care center with an appointment to a primary care or similarly appropriate physician in their hands,” Greene said. “In essence, while always honoring the patient’s choice, we will seek to make the referral process an effortless and seamless one for the patient. Our collective vision is to help more people manage their ongoing health needs.”
“This partnership will allow us to coordinate care and focus on ways to reduce the costs of healthcare for the benefit of the patients,” Bowling added. “Additionally, we expect Baptist Health will be very helpful in educating patients about when to use urgent care, as a recent study conducted by our company indicated some people are still confused about the services provided at urgent care centers as well as when urgent care is appropriate.”
Solantic’s current North Florida market coverage includes locations in Arlington, Mandarin, Neptune Beach, Northside, Orange Park, Southside, St. Augustine, Westside and Yulee (inside WalMart). A tenth center will open in the Miramar Plaza in San Marco March 25 and a Beaches and Hodges center in May.
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About Solantic
Since its founding in 2001, Solantic has been a leader in applying retail concepts to the practice of urgent care medicine. Referred to in the media as the “Starbucks of healthcare,” Solantic was the first to post its simplified, three-tiered pricing on large menu boards in centers, display wait times on queue monitors, offer online registration, Solantic gift cards and a guarantee on its services—if you don’t feel better, return to Solantic and be treated for free.
Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, Solantic is the fastest growing urgent care company in Florida, currently operating 30 centers, with aggressive plans to expand in 2010 through hospital joint ventures and franchising with physicians.
In addition to urgent care, Solantic also provides workers comp’ and occupational medicine and a range of lab services, immunizations, physicals, wellness testing and prescriptions on-site. Centers are staffed by board-certified physicians and are open seven days a week, with extended evening and weekend hours. For additional information visit www.solantic.com.
About Baptist
Baptist Health is a faith-based, mission-driven system comprised of Baptist Medical Center Downtown and Baptist Heart Hospital; Baptist Medical Center Beaches; Baptist Medical Center Nassau; Baptist Medical Center South; and Wolfson Children’s Hospital – Jacksonville’s only children’s hospital.
All Baptist Health hospitals, along with Baptist Home Health Care, have achieved Magnet(TM) status, an international quality designation that recognizes excellence in patient care. Baptist Health also includes cardiology and cardiovascular surgery services; a comprehensive cancer center; orthopaedic institute; women’s resource center; neurosciences, including neurosurgery and two Joint Commission-certified stroke centers; a full range of psychology and psychiatry services; outpatient facilities; urgent care services and a network of primary care physicians’ offices throughout Northeast Florida.
Baptist Health is the official healthcare provider for the Jacksonville Jaguars. For more information, visit www.e-baptisthealth.com. For information on Wolfson Children’s Hospital, visit www.wolfsonchildrens.org.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Mary Green
Director, Communications/Public Relations
Solantic
marygreen@solantic.com
Office: 904.312.5374
Cindy Hamilton
Director, Corporate Communications/Public Relations
Baptist Health
Cindy.Hamilton@bmcjax.com
Office: 904.202.4907
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