Premier Health, a Baton Rouge-based company that operates urgent care centers throughout Louisiana and also in North Carolina, has expanded into Indiana—its third state.
The first of 12 clinics slated for the greater Indianapolis market opened this morning, and more will follow in the coming months. Premier Health will own and manage the clinics in partnership with Indiana University Health, the largest health system in that state.
Premier Health was founded 16 years ago as a partnership between two local physicians and Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center. Today, the company jointly owns and operates OLOL’s Lake After Hours Urgent Care centers, as well as urgent care centers in partnership with six other health systems. They include: St. Elizabeth Hospital in Gonzales; Our Lady of Lourdes RMC in Lafayette; Rapides Regional Medical Center in Alexandria; St. Francis Medical Center in Monroe; Pardee Health in Henderson, North Carolina; and IU Health in Indianapolis.
Premier Health uses the name of its hospital partners to brand its joint-venture urgent care centers in each respective market.
“There has been a nationwide shift to less expensive, cost effective health care models, and large health systems want to partner with an urgent care company that has a successful track record of partnership with hospitals,” says Premier Health CEO Steve Sellars. “These types of joint ventures are Premier’s core business. We’ve done more of them than any other company of our kind in the country.”
By year’s end, Premier Health will have expanded to 38 centers in three states with a workforce of more than 650.
—Stephanie Riegel
