Out Of The ED, Into Urgent Care

From News Channel 3 (Memphis):

Efforts are underway to shift 20,000 Shelby Countians kicked off of TennCare to 11 "quick-care" clinics county-wide, said Shelby County Mayor AC Wharton in a news conference Friday.

Wharton announced the county received a $2.4 million "one-year demonstration project" grant to provide primary medical care and social services to what he called TennCare "disenrollees" and to alleviate overcrowded conditions at The Med, the state's largest government-funded charity hospital.

"It will clear folks out of the emergency room, and get them into urgent care or primary care away from the emergency room setting," said Wharton, "thereby freeing up the emergency room for those individuals who have to be there."

The Quick-Care Medical Clinic at 880 Madison Avenue will expand its hours to 8am-10pm Monday through Friday. Its weekend hours are 10am-6pm. Clinic staff will refer uninsured patients to permanent "medical homes," either at Federally Qualified Health Clinics (FQHC's) in the network or at faith-based clinics like the Church Health Center at 1115 Union Avenue.