A St. Tammany physician is expanding his urgent care business to Baton Rouge and plans to open a new location at 5207 Essen Lane, Suite 2, in Universal Plaza this December.
Dr. Eddie Dease, a Baton Rouge native and Broadmoor High School graduate, owns Rapid Urgent Care, which has locations in Covington, Mandeville, Slidell and Metairie. The Baton Rouge location will be the fifth Rapid Urgent Care in southeast Louisiana.
Dease says Baton Rouge, which has grown significantly since he attended high school here, has remained on his radar as his family still lives here.
“We’re just trying to see where there’s a need and we’re trying to fill that need,” he says.
Dease says Rapid Urgent Care can perform labs and X-rays onsite for convenience. It’s also open every day, including holidays. No appointment is necessary.
The urgent care center also has agreements with major insurance companies. It’s an in-network provider for Aetna, Humana, United Healthcare, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana, Cigna and Gilsbar.
Dease hopes people will turn to the urgent care center to get treatment for fractures and minor illnesses rather than going to emergency rooms that may have longer wait times.
“Society is so fast-paced and so busy all the time that the urgent care type of setting, I think, fits in very well with the fast-paced lifestyle that most of us enjoy right now,” he says.
Rapid Urgent Care joins Ava Street Café, a new restaurant concept that combines authentic Vietnamese cuisine with Japanese and French influences, as the newest tenants in Universal Plaza on Essen Lane.
—Alexandria Burris
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