Fewer than two weeks after announcing the launch of Point of Care Health Group, Dr. Ruben Patel and Vishal Vasanji today announced their firm will open an urgent care clinic in Mid City.
The clinic, which will provide treatment of common illnesses and injuries, will operate daily from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. at 2840 Florida Blvd. beginning next month, say Vasanji and Patel, who formerly headed Ochsner Baton Rouge’s urgent care department. It will also offer a range of diagnostic services including X-rays, influenza testing, wellness exams, EKGs, strep tests and urinalysis.
“We saw an opportunity to bring vital health care services to Mid City. Being a lifelong resident of Baton Rouge and having completed my training at the now shuttered Earl K. Long Hospital, I understood the void that was left in the community by recent closures,” reads a statement from Patel, co-CEO and chief medical officer for Point of Care Health Group. “Our goal is to set a new standard in urgent care services as we make a difference in the daily lives of our patients, employees and the Mid City community.”
The Mid City area lost its only emergency room this spring when Baton Rouge General shuttered its ER. The hospital recently announced plans to transform its Mid City campus on Florida Boulevard into a specialty hospital with a focus on rehab, outpatient and mental health care services for the elderly.
Sen. Yvonne Dorsey-Colomb, D-Baton Rouge, who was among lawmakers and activists who warned of grave consequences due to the Mid City ER closure this spring—and more recently applauded Baton Rouge General’s new plan for the Mid City campus—says in a statement that Patient Plus Urgent Care “will significantly restore our community’s urgent care capacity and that makes a huge difference.”
