MU Health Care will work with Hy-Vee to construct Mizzou Quick Care clinics in each of the three Hy-Vee stores in Columbia.
The clinics will be open seven days a week to serve as walk-in clinics that do not require appointments for patients to be treated for non-emergency injuries and illnesses. MU Health Care will be leasing space in the stores for the clinics, MU Health Care spokesman Colin Planalp said.
“They are geared toward convenience so that people can stop by when they have some minor illness and don’t have to make an appointment with their doctor if they don’t have time,” Planalp said.
Services offered at the Quick Care clinics will include vaccinations, employment and sports physical exams, and treatment for respiratory infections, ear infections, sore throats, skin rashes and minor injuries.
Although the clinics will not offer treatment for serious injuries or illnesses, the clinics will be linked with MU Health Care’s electronic health records to ensure that University Hospital can follow up on any serious medical concerns not addressed at the clinics, said Michael LeFevre, medical director in the Department of Family and Community Medicine.
“If somebody needs care beyond what can be provided in this setting, we will make sure they can get access to whatever services are required for that problem,” he said.
LeFevre added that offering more convenient health care is a concern the Quick Care clinics will help address.
“Right now, if you just want to drop in and see a health care provider, with the types of simple problems we are talking about, the options people have are pretty limited,” he said. “It’s hard to just drop into a clinic and expect to be seen because we work on an appointment-schedule basis. I think the Quick Care clinics are an improvement to the services we currently offer to the community.”
Construction of the clinics will begin in March, Planalp said. Two of the clinics, located at Hy-Vee stores on 25 Conley Road and 405 E. Nifong Blvd., are planned to open by Aug. 1, while the clinic at 3100 W. Broadway is planned to open by Oct. 1.
University Hospital nurses and physician assistants will collaborate with Family and Community Medicine physicians to run the clinic.
LeFevre will provide administrative oversight for the clinics, and Susan Pereira, an MU Health Care family medicine physician and associate professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine, will serve as the medical director of the clinics to run the day-to-day operations.
“As medical director, I will be working closely with the team providing service at the clinics and coordinating the care across the three sites,” Pereira said in an email. “The community as a whole can benefit from the clinics, and that includes students.”
A pricing system for treatment at the clinics has not been determined at this time. However, LeFevre said providing affordable treatment and making health care available to more people is an important goal for the clinics.
“There are a lot of folks out there, including a lot of students, who do not have a regular source of health care,” LeFevre said. “So when they come up against a fairly simple health problem, it can be difficult to figure out how to get into care. I think (the clinics) will provide a convenient, affordable entry point into the health care system for these people.”
