As part of a joint venture entered into by Piedmont Healthcare and WellStreet – Piedmont Urgent Care by WellStreet – patients can expect a consistently excellent patient experience, expansion into employer occupational health programs and partnerships into physician specialties, such as orthopedics. Piedmont Urgent Care represents the largest urgent care network in Georgia with a total of 34 centers and growing.
 
Established in 2011, WellStreet, which entered into a partnership with Piedmont in 2014, brings its operational efficiency and expertise. Part of the 2014 affiliation included the integration of all of WellStreet’s centers onto Piedmont’s electronic health record, Epic, to improve continuity of care. In addition, all of WellStreet’s providers became members of the Piedmont Clinic, which currently has 555 physician practice locations.
 
As part of the new joint venture, Piedmont Urgent Care by WellStreet will assume operations of the remaining seven fully-owned and -operated Piedmont Urgent Care centers: five in Piedmont’s east hub (Athens, Oconee, Watkinsville, Jefferson, and Barrow) and two in its southwest hub (Blackman and Columbus). This change will take effect April 1.
 
“WellStreet is only focused on urgent care and occupational medicine, allowing us to be best in class for our patients,” said Lee Resnick, M.D., chief medical officer and senior vice president of business development and strategy at Piedmont Urgent Care by WellStreet. “We are excited to welcome the seven existing Piedmont Urgent Care centers, their providers and staff, into the Piedmont Urgent Care by WellStreet family. These centers are well-run and a perfect fit into Piedmont’s urgent care network.”
 
From a business perspective, the joint venture will create a single brand strategy and marketing approach and will allow the newly-constituted entity to scale at a faster pace – enabling Piedmont to provide convenient care to more patients close to home.
 
“The creation of a newly constituted joint-venture that results in Piedmont Urgent Care by WellStreet will provide many benefits to our patients,” said Piedmont Healthcare President and CEO Kevin Brown. “These benefits include improved patient access to world-class specialists, more locations close to home, and additional resources needed to continue to grow and provide care to more patients in the fast-changing healthcare landscape.”
 
Piedmont Urgent Care by WellStreet provides walk-in treatment for non-life-threatening illness and injury seven days a week, 12 hours a day, and its centers are an excellent alternative to busy emergency departments and when traditional primary care offices are not open. With outstanding patient satisfaction scores, Piedmont Urgent Care by WellStreet operates in warm welcoming environments and has onsite digital X-ray capabilities and accept most major insurance plans.