El Paso’s Las Palmas Del Sol Healthcare, which operates two large El Paso hospitals, is to add five urgent care clinics to its network in coming weeks.

That’s because HCA Healthcare, its parent company, is buying 41 urgent care clinics in Texas from FastMed Urgent Care, headquartered in the Phoenix area.

The sale is expected to be completed in the summer, HCA officials said.

The Texas clinics operate under the MedPost and FastMed brands.

El Paso has five MedPost clinics in East, Northeast, and Northwest El Paso. They will be rebranded as CareNow Urgent Care, one of two urgent care brands operated by HCA. The other is MD Now in Florida.

HCA currently operates 268 urgent care clinics across the nation under the two brands.

CareNow already has one clinic operating in West El Paso, at 7845 N. Mesa St., as part of the Las Palmas Del Sol network. Also, one is planned in a new shopping center under construction at 9640 Montwood Drive and McRae Boulevard, across the street from Eastwood High School, in East El Paso.

This is not the first time the MedPost clinics will be part of an El Paso hospital operator.

They were part of The Hospitals of Providence health care network when they were owned by Tenet Healthcare, Providence’s parent company.

Tenet sold its 87 urgent care centers, branded as MedPost and CareSpot, to FastMed in 2021 for $80 million.

Financial details of HCA’s acquisition of the Texas FastMed clinics were not disclosed. Besides 22 MedPost clinics, the deal also includes 19 FastMed branded clinics. The other Texas cities where the clinics are located are Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, and Houston.

FastMed, which also operates the CareSpot Urgent Care brand, will continue to have more than 150 clinics in Arizona, Florida, and North Carolina.

Tenet and HCA are the nation's largest hospital chains. Providence, with seven El Paso area hospitals, and Las Palmas Del Sol, with two hospitals, are this area's largest health care providers.

Providence no longer has urgent care clinics, Monique Poessiger, a Providence spokesperson, said in an email.

Even though Tenet sold the MedPost clinics two years ago, at least one MedPost location at 9100 Viscount Blvd., in East El Paso, last week still had Providence's logo as part of its exterior signage. And Providence's website Monday still had a MedPost location at 12371 Edgemere Blvd., in far East El Paso, listed as a Providence-affiliated urgent care clinic for children.

The website posting is being removed and Providence signs at any MedPost locations removed, Poessiger said Monday.

More: 'Build-for-rent': Paul Foster's new development offers homes for El Paso family renters

Providence operates two freestanding emergency rooms, which, unlike urgent care clinics, can treat life-threatening conditions, she said.

Las Palmas Del Sol operates four freestanding emergency centers, which are extensions of its hospital emergency departments, Las Palmas Del Sol officials said in a statement.

Urgent care clinics treat non-emergency medical problems, and fill the gap between primary care doctors and hospital-tied emergency rooms, the officials said.

“These additional urgent care clinics will allow us to treat non-emergent illness or injuries and keep less serious cases out of the emergency room,” Art Garza, Del Sol Medical Center chief executive officer, said in a statement.

Erol Akdamar, president of HCA Healthcare's American Group, which include's HCA's Texas facilities, said in a statement that the urgent care clinics will help connect patients "to our broader healthcare network when a higher level of care or specialty service is needed."

Vic Kolenc may be reached at 546-6421, vkolenc@elpasotimes.com and @vickolenc on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso MedPost Urgent Care clinics to be part of Las Palmas Del Sol