Milk... bread...
...and say ‘ahh’

By Diane Prokop
Times Staff Writer

Sept. 14 — a Friday — marked the beginning of a new trend in health care for Northeast Philadelphia residents. That’s the day ExpressCare opened the doors of its exam rooms in the Collins Family Market ShopRite at 6301 Oxford Ave.
It’s the first ExpressCare clinic in Eastern Pennsylvania and the second overall for the New Jersey-based company, said chief operating officer Scott Richards. The company intends to open 12 clinics in ShopRite stores in Pennsylvania and New Jersey by early 2008.
ExpressCare has joined an expanding movement — establishing health clinics in retail stores to provide routine and affordable medical care to the public. The business concept is comparable to MinuteClinic, a subsidiary of the CVS Caremark Corp., whose ambitious plan to open these convenient medical offices in CVS pharmacies around the country already features two in the Northeast, at 1301 Rhawn St. and 6501 Harbison Ave.
ExpressCare’s director of operations, Patricia Dempsey, stressed that the company is not affiliated with any pharmacy chain but instead is a ShopRite tenant paying rent for its health-clinic space.
"While ShopRite clearly hopes patients will fill prescriptions in-store, at the store’s pharmacy, we don’t care where they get prescriptions filled," Dempsey said.
Staffed by four nurse practitioners, including two who are employed full time, ExpressCare provides basic health-care services such as treatment of common illnesses — colds, bronchitis, fevers, flu and sore throats — and the standard assortment of aches, pains and sprains.
This walk-in, low-cost medical care particularly reaches out to people who lack insurance, access to health care, or the time to wait in a doctor’s office for treatment of a minor illness.
The clinic also provides employment and school physicals, as well as screenings for diabetes, pregnancy and strep throat.
"If it’s outside of our scope, we always refer back to the patient’s primary-care physician. For patients who do not have a primary, we try to help get them one," Dempsey said.
No appointments are necessary at the clinic, which posts a menu of services and costs that range from $19 to $49. Vaccinations also are available under a separate pricing scale.
ExpressCare is in talks with the insurance industry about the company’s participation in health plans. At the moment, payment for services can be made by cash, check or debit and credit cards.
Convenience is key, according to ShopRite owner Larry Collins, who first saw the in-store clinics in the Midwest and thought the concept could be beneficial to his customers.
Though Collins has insurance and a physician, he explained that there could be a day when a cold has him down, he’d be unable to get a same-day appointment with his doctor, or he’d just leave work early and go home to get well.
The affordable clinic, on the other hand, would enable Collins to be seen at a time convenient for him, then he’d just have to walk a few yards to the supermarket pharmacy to fill a prescription and take his first dose of medication 15 minutes later, he explained.
"Everybody is time-pressed these days. That’s the value this gives," Collins added.
Dempsey, the ExpressCare executive, likes to emphasize how the money aspect can make ill patients feel a lot better. For people without health insurance, she said, the clinic offers an affordable option to an emergency-room visit at about one-tenth the cost.
Patients at the in-store clinic use a touch screen to sign in. Their information is uploaded to create an electronic medical record, according to Dempsey.
The mini-clinic has two full exam rooms, two chairs in a small hallway waiting room, and a restroom that meets requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
So far, the nurse practitioners are seeing a few patients a day, but Dempsey expects the volume to pick up as people become more familiar with the clinic and the services it offers. ••
ExpressCare will officially celebrate its grand opening on Tuesday, Oct. 30. Its staff is now offering flu vaccines for $20 during hours of operation. The clinic is open from 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
For more information, call 1-877-679-7737 or visit www.expresscarecenter.com
Reporter Diane Prokop can be reached at 215-354-3036 or dprokop@phillynews.com