Does Fast Pace Walkin Clinic in Newport Tennessee Accept Blue Care
Stan Bevis, founder of Fast Pace Urgent Care Clinic, is trying to fill a hole in access to health care in rural areas — something that he experienced firsthand.
His father died of a heart attack when Bevis was 20. His dad, a blue collar worker, didn't take a lot of time for his personal health.
"He was too busy making a living," said Bevis, a nurse practitioner who has flown as life flight personnel. "I wanted to make health care more accessible to people like my dad, quite honestly."
Fast Pace opened its first clinic in October 2009.
Now Brentwood-based Fast Pace is in more than two dozen towns in Tennessee and Kentucky.
"We do not want our clinics to be about a certain socioeconomic class," Bevis said. "It's about changing health care. I don't just say that to say the right thing. I truly believe that."
The company was bought by Shore Capital Partners, a Chicago-based private equity shop, when "we realized our dream may be bigger than our wallets," said Bevis, who was named a winner in the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2015 Southeast Program.
Bevis' dream is bigger than the current Fast Pace footprint: he wants the model to be taken across the country.
"I hope every rural area in my lifetime will have access to care — it won't be a question of where you live," he said.
He doesn't take for granted when people call asking him to open a clinic in their town.
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Rob Preston, president and CEO of the Athens Chamber of Commerce in East Tennessee, said there is demand for the Fast Pace even with a hospital and other walk-in clinics.
Preston arrived with his wife, who was ill, 30 minutes before the clinic opened on a Sunday. The Prestons thought they'd be the first in line — but the wait for care on a weekend morning turned out to be longer than expected, he recalled, estimating it as roughly an hour.
Fast Pace was "the only place open in town" and the illness didn't warrant a trip to the emergency room, Preston said.
"When you go to the ER you're gong to pay a lot more. You don't go unless you have to," said Preston. "We're fortunate to have the clinics. She did get good treatment," Preston said.
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Rural areas and small towns face several challenges in getting access to care.
For hospitals, it's difficult to recruit physicians and health care technology, from electronic medical record systems to diagnostic and treatment equipment, is expensive to implement.
When Bevis scouts for new locations he looks at what health care options are in the area. Being near a Wal-Mart, as it is in Sparta, is a good thing because people go shopping, often more than once a week.
The clinics take private insurance as well as Medicare and TennCare. The team works to keep prices affordable because they want people who are uninsured to be able to afford care.
The clinics staff nurse practitioners and physician assistants. There are several supervising physicians who work with the nurse practitioners.
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The Brownsville Fast Pace is essential because the local hospital closed about a year ago, said Gem Bell, who recently finished his term as president of Brownsville-Haywood County Chamber of Commerce.
One of the biggest obstacles in getting communities familiar with Fast Pace is explaining to people, including Bevis' mom, they can walk in and receive care because people are accustomed to having to wait for an appointment.
"You don't have to judge whether you're sick enough to come to an urgent care," Bevis said.
Reach Holly Fletcher at 615-259-8287 or on Twitter @hollyfletcher.
Source: https://www.tennessean.com/story/money/industries/health-care/2015/09/04/fast-pace-brings-care-rural-areas/71590956/
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