Canton resident opens CareCentral clinic

Dr. Renée Wilson, MD, likes to do her grocery shopping at the Stop and Shop on Route 138 in Stoughton. Over time, she noticed an empty store front a few doors down and thought it would be a great location for a walk-in urgent medical care clinic. Last November, she and her husband, Everton Weeks, opened CareCentral Urgent Care at 286 Washington Street in the Stop and Shop Plaza.

Dr. Renee Wilson (Mary Ann Price photo)

“I shop right here,” she said from her new office in what used to be a bank. “It has great visibility. Patients love [urgent care clinics]. I thought it would work here.”

Wilson’s interest in opening the urgent care facility had to do with more than just the fact that it’s close to the Canton home where she and Weeks live. Wilson is affiliated with the emergency room of a local hospital and has treated patients who have all kinds of ailments. What concerned her was the amount of time that people who were not seriously ill had to wait before being seen by a doctor.

“I see a lot of patients,” she said. “A lot of the patients are sick, but it’s not an emergency, but they wait and wait. At an urgent care clinic, they are seen by a physician, treated extremely well, and get full attention.”

Wilson is the attending physician at CareCentral. Other staff members include Ann Kingman, who is a full-time nurse practitioner, two per diem physician assistants, a per diem nurse practitioner, a medical assistant, an x-ray technician, and a certified nurse as well as non-medical staff. The building comprises six examination rooms, a laboratory, an x-ray room, and a large waiting room.

Wilson described the past months as busy ones for CareCentral, with many people coming in and complaining of respiratory illnesses, joint pain and flu symptoms. The Minute Clinic at the nearby CVS has referred patients who needed to be seen by a doctor or nurse.

On a few occasions Wilson has telephoned for an ambulance to take a patient to the hospital for additional treatment. She said that the staff tries to see and treat patients within 60 minutes unless they need treatment that takes more time, such as an intravenous hydration.

In addition to treating sick patients, CareCentral also handles physicals for school, sports and immigration and immunizations for travel and children. Wilson said that the charge for a visit to CareCentral is comparable to the co-payment for an office visit. Medicare is accepted along with most private insurance, including Blue Cross Blue Shield, Aetna and Tufts.

Wilson cited three reasons that people have sought help at CareCentral instead of visiting an emergency room: the lower cost, the shorter waiting time, and the family medicine options. “Our goal is to make you comfortable and relaxed,” she said. “It’s a nice friendly environment.”

Wilson is an emergency medicine doctor with a degree from the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University. She has a Master of Public Health degree from Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health and is a Fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians.

CareCentral is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Appointments are not needed. For more information, go to www.carecentralurgentcare.com or call 781-341-2800.

Short URL: https://www.thecantoncitizen.com/?p=19661

Posted by Mary Ann Price on Mar 21 2013. Filed under Business. Both comments and pings are currently closed.