Baptist Health And American Family Care Join Forces

MONTGOMERY, Ala., July 9, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Baptist Health and American Family Care (AFC) announced that they have partnered to provide primary and urgent care services throughout Central Alabama.  AFC is the largest urgent care provider in the state of Alabama and one of the largest in the United States with over 126 clinics in operation.  AFC currently operates three clinics in the Montgomery and Prattville areas.  PriMeds, owned by Baptist Health, are located in five locations throughout Montgomery, Wetumpka and Prattville.  The eight facilities are being co-branded as AFC PriMed.  Doors officially opened to patients on July 7^th.

The two leading healthcare organizations have entered into a community-focused partnership to improve patient outcomes through a closer coordination of care among the partners, provide an immediate expansion of convenient and accessible clinics and to grow and provide primary care / urgent care clinics in other areas of Central Alabama that are currently underserved or have no access to primary care or urgent care services.

"Baptist Health is committed to quality patient care and we are very excited to partner with American Family Care, a company that shares our goals and plans for growth of an exceptional primary care network for our community," said Russell Tyner, President and CEO of Baptist Health.

The partnership will result in enhanced access to primary care services in a seven county region and will serve approximately 470,000 people living in the surrounding communities.  In addition, 75 to 100 new jobs will be created in the Montgomery area including physician, clinical and clerical positions.  Interested applicants can apply online at www.americanfamilycare.com.

"We are excited to combine our medical experience and commitment to excellence with Baptist Health's talented health care professionals as we work together to create a new benchmark for top quality medical care," says D. Bruce Irwin, M.D., owner and founder of American Family Care. "As the nation's healthcare model continues to rapidly change and the number of insured patients without a primary care physician increases, AFC and Baptist Health will grow together to meet that need and provide patients with easily accessible primary care, urgent care, family care and occupational medicine."

All eight of the clinics are designed, equipped and staffed to provide accessible primary care, urgent care, minor emergency treatment and occupational medicine. They use a high-tech, high touch approach, with digital x-rays, on-site lab testing, state-of-the-art diagnostics, and electronic medical records. The clinics will be staffed by board certified physicians and kind, caring and compassionate healthcare professionals. The clinics will be open daily, will have extended hours, and no appointments will be necessary.

About Baptist Health:

Baptist Health is the largest healthcare system serving central Alabama. Baptist Medical Center South is a 514-licensed-bed regional acute care referral center and the tertiary care flagship facility for Baptist Health. Baptist Medical Center East is a 150-bed acute care hospital providing a broad range of healthcare services, specializing in obstetrics and women's services. Prattville Baptist Hospital is an acute care, community hospital with 85 licensed beds, offering a full range of health services to residents of Autauga and Elmore counties.

In addition to comprehensive hospital-based services including 24/7 emergency services, it also offers outpatient specialty services  including oncology, primary care, general surgery, neurosciences, imaging, lab, breast health, wound care, sports medicine, diabetes and nutrition education, home health, hospice, sleep disorders, speech and hearing, mental health and physical rehabilitation.

Baptist Health serves nearly 600,000 people in Central Alabama.   With more than 4,000 employees, Baptist Health is also central Alabama's largest non-governmental employer.  Baptist Health was recently named a Thomson Reuters Top 15 Health System, a distinction that recognizes the nation's top 15 health systems for setting industry benchmarks for excellence across the healthcare spectrum. Baptist Health was the only system in Alabama to receive this prestigious recognition.  For more information, visit www.baptistfirst.org.

Contact: Merrill South, (334) 273-4389 or (334) 451-0814 or [email protected]

About American Family Care:

American Family Care is the second largest privately owned urgent care operator in the country. D. Bruce Irwin, M.D. founded the company in 1982 in Hoover, Ala., with a business model of "putting the patient first." The clinics are designed, equipped and staffed to provide accessible primary care, urgent care, minor emergency treatment and occupational medicine.  AFC clinics use a high-tech, high-touch approach to medical care, with digital x-rays, laboratories and medication dispensing available on-site. AFC also offers a Specialty Clinic (general surgery), WeighToLive, and U-Save Pharmacy at many of its clinics. In 2013, AFC acquired Doctors Express, the largest national urgent care franchise. By the end of 2014, AFC will operate more than 160 facilities in 26 states, providing care to more than a million patients. For more information, visit www.americanfamilycare.com.

Contact: Felicia Fortune, 205-421-2144, [email protected]

SOURCE American Family Care