BY BETH DEDMAN
NYC Health + Hospitals opened an ExpressCare clinic at their Metropolitan location Feb. 3, the first of the chain of clinics to open in Manhattan, according to a press release.
The clinic will treat non-life-threatening conditions such as colds, flu, sprains, rashes, minor cuts and lacerations and certain types of infections, according to the press release. It will operate seven days a week from 6 p.m. to midnight on weekdays and 10 a.m. to midnight on weekends and holidays.
The clinic will provide faster treatment for these conditions than would be available in the emergency department, according to the press release. The physicians employed at the clinic will also help connect patients to primary care doctors in the NYC Health + Hospitals system for follow-up care.
Redirecting non-life-threatening treatment from the emergency department will help reduce wait times for patients in need of immediate emergency care, said Alina Moran, CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals/Metropolitan, in the press release.
“We are excited to add a new health care option for the community we serve in East Harlem and upper Manhattan,” Moran said in the press release.
This is the fourth ExpressCare clinic in the NYC Health + Hospital system, with other locations in Elmhurst, Lincoln and Queens, according to the press release.
The clinic will operate in a shared space with the Geriatric Outpatient Services until construction on the permanent location is complete in several months, said Noel Alicea, the public relations representative for NYC Health + Hospitals/Metropolitan.
NYC Council Member Diana Ayala, the representative for District 8, helped secure the $1.6 million for the construction of the clinic.
“The new ExpressCare Clinic at Metropolitan Hospital will help ensure patients are receiving high-quality medical care promptly and close to home,” Ayala said in the press release. “I am proud to have worked with the Mayor’s Office to secure additional funding for the clinic’s future space, and in the interim, I look forward to welcoming this vital resource to the community.”
NYC Council Member Ben Kallos, the representative for District 5, attended the opening ceremony in support of Ayala. He thinks that the clinic will alleviate the needs of the large community of seniors and families within the surrounding area.
“The opening of this new ExpressCare Clinic at NYC Health + Hospitals/Metropolitan is a huge win for our community,” Kallos said in the press release. “We all get sick and need to be able to walk into a clinic and get the help we need, easily and quickly. This clinic will fulfill a need in the community making residents safer and healthier.”
NYC Health + Hospitals collaborated with OneCity Health to create the clinical model for the ExpressCare clinics. The model is designed to support Medicaid Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment program goals to reduce avoidable hospital use by 25% by 2020.
ExpressCare clinics will accept most insurance plans, but insurance is not required to receive care. Appointments are not necessary.
NYC Health + Hospitals plans to expand the ExpressCare model to other public health system facilities in the coming months.
