Wellmont Health System plans to build a $4 million health-care facility on 4 acres of land it owns at the southern end of Piney Flats.
Plans for the facility, approved by Wellmont’s board of directors on Tuesday, call for it to include an urgent care center, space for three doctor’s offices and a helipad. Company officials said it could be up and running in as little as a year.
"It ought to be a wonderful project in a growing area," said Ron Prewitt, Wellmont’s senior vice president of system operations and business development.
Prewitt said the urgent-care facility would be able to address any non-emergency medical situation. It will have offices for two doctors, who will be permanently stationed in the area, and provide space for a rotating specialist who will come as needed.
The facility is also set to include a pharmacy and an in-house lab. The entire complex will be built next to the Rocky Mount Museum on U.S. 11E.
"It’s part of our total Washington County [Tenn.] strategy," Prewitt said, adding the new facility should work well in conjunction with a full-service emergency department the company plans to build in Boones Creek.
Wellmont is currently seeking a certificate of need from the Tennessee Health Services and Development Agency to build the Boones Creek facility.
Prewitt said the agency does not require such a certificate for the Piney Flats facility because the total project is estimated to cost less than the $5 million threshold for a certificate of need.
He said Wellmont was interested in developing the Piney Flats area because it has an estimated population of 20,000 residents and has shown a 5 percent growth rate over the past several years.
Wellmont spokesman Brad Lifford said his company’s plans to build the new urgent-care facility were not related to its decision to close the Piney Bluff Medical Center, which is located at the northern end of Piney Flats, on March 31.
gmclean@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2518
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