UB Community Development Announces $3.5 Million in Community Facilities Lending Funds for the Construction of Atmore Urgent Care Facility
Atmore, AL – UB Community Development, LLC (UBCD), a community development partner of United Bank, has announced $3.5 million in Community Facilities Lending funds for the construction of the Atmore Community Hospital (ACH) Urgent Care facility. The new urgent care will offer services for non-emergent needs and will increase access to other types of healthcare for Atmore and surrounding communities.
Urgent care facilities are a vital component to communities, offering a convenient alternative to an emergency room visit or appointment with your general practitioner. With expanded office hours outside of normal doctor’s office hours, Escambia county residents will enjoy the convenience of quality walk-in medical services, high quality care and significantly lower costs, bringing access to care solutions to an underserved area.
The new ACH Urgent Care facility will be staffed by mid-level providers with Physician Medical Director, the same way that ACH Med Plus operates today. ACH will offer one additional mid-level provider at the facility initially, with the potential to grow into more provider coverage as we work to expand programs designed at assisting community businesses with their healthcare needs and community health initiatives. Care at the new Urgent Care Clinic will be delivered by an accomplished team of healthcare professionals, and will feature a lab, x-ray equipment, a pharmacy, and wellness care. The Urgent Care Clinic will work in coordination with Atmore Community Hospital as its parent organization and will be symbiotic with the other ACH physician clinics.
In calendar year 2020, 7,346 patients were seen, an average of 612 per month. One important note is that the clinic had over a month and a half where they were not operating in the clinic capacity in an effort to assist with a COVID surge in the emergency department. The pandemic had a negative impact on the number of patients seen during this timeframe, as well as other months, as citizens attempted to follow Governor Ivey’s Safer at Home orders.
“Our company has a vested interest in all of our communities, but the concentration in the Atmore community is foundational to our company mission,” said Chris Walker, UBCD, Managing Director, Community Facilities Lending. “Our interest and commitment to deploying solutions embraces our mission driven focus on community and economic development as well as affordable housing.”
Adding to the convenience of this urgent care is its location. The more than 6,000-square-foot facility will be constructed on a 10-acre site on Highway 21 at Rivercane Industrial Park. Through the hospital, the authority, and the city working together for the improvement of the citizens of Atmore and surrounding areas, the 10-acre site was established from a land swap. The facility will offer modern equipment and expanded services such as radiology imaging, on site pharmacy and lab services efficiently expediting patient care in one centralized location.
The new facility will be dedicated to Urgent Care and Wellness needs. Currently, ACH Med Plus has 9 rooms, and specialists lease space several days per week. This new facility will dedicate more space to clinic specific needs and will offer a “one stop shop” for x-ray, an expansion of labs from the current clinic, and a pharmacy. Another key feature is the ability to segregate acutely ill and “well” patients to reduce the chance of cross contamination.
“We have spent a great deal of time researching the most successful urgent care and healthcare models across the country, working with our community leaders and developing a plan of action to build the clinic,” stated Debbie Rowell, Escambia County Healthcare Authority (ECHCA) Board Chairwoman.
Phase I of the ECHCA plan includes the urgent care facility with the strategic goal of expanding specialty services to the community. The plan includes coordinated efforts with larger hospitals and having specialty physicians placed into rotation periodically seeing patients at the new facility. The updated model will extend the opportunity to receive specialty care locally. Additions include the integration of employee health programs such as wellness screenings and preventive care.
For more information about UB Community Development, or for help planning your next funding project, contact Alex Jones, President, UB Community Development at (251) 446-6017 or email alex.jones@unitedbank.com.
About United Bank
United Bank is a $993,000,000 financial institution that has enjoyed 117 years of continuous service to Atmore, Alabama and surrounding communities. United Bank has offices in Atmore, Brewton, East Brewton, Flomaton, Monroeville, Frisco City, Bay Minette, Foley, Lillian, Loxley, Magnolia Springs, Silverhill, Spanish Fort, Daphne, Summerdale and Semmes in Alabama. United Bank serves Santa Rosa County, Florida in Jay, Milton, and Pace. For more information about United Bank, please visit our website at www.UnitedBank.com. Member FDIC.
About UB Community Development
UB Community Development’s strong history and experience in New Markets Tax Credit transactions, coupled with our passion for improving communities, make UBCD Alabama’s premier financial partner for economic and community development. Through our NMTC projects, Community Facilities Lending Program and Community Housing Capital Fund, UBCD is working with community development partners in the fields of healthcare, education, manufacturing, public works, affordable housing and more. For more information about UB Community Development, visit our website at www.UBCommunityDevelopment.com.
