A new kind of specialized immediate care clinic is opening in Wichita

Say you’re playing pickleball over the weekend and feel an unexpected pop in your knee.

You could go to a traditional immediate care clinic, but as of this week, there’s now one that specializes in treating orthopedic issues through an immediate care clinic.

Advanced Orthopaedic Associates opened AOA NOW- Orthopedic Immediate Care on Monday at its new office at 9828 E. Shannon Woods just south of K-96 and Webb Road.

“With this new building, we have obviously some more space, and that allows us to enhance our service lines,” said executive director Amanda Ermey.

It’s a walk-in clinic, though patients can make appointments if they want.

“I think COVID really pushed this,” Ermey said.

During the pandemic, she said a lot of patients with orthopedic issues had difficulty being seen in emergency rooms or getting transferred to hospitals.

“People started going to immediate cares around the city.”

She said that’s why a specialized immediate care makes sense.

The clinic can treat sprains, pulls, tears and minor lacerations. It can help stabilize patients and provide casts and splints and then refer them for follow-up visits at AOA.

For certain conditions, such as compound fractures, patients will be referred to an emergency room.

The clinic also will offer back-to-school physicals for children.

“We’ll have a mix of medical doctors and physician assistants managing the clinic,” Ermey said.

That includes family practice physicians Kara Cox and Colin Lisenby, both of whom have special focuses on orthopedics, and physician assistants Richard Ranzau and Steve Montague.

The new AOA building is about 56,000 square feet, 9,500 square feet of which is a new Ascension Via Christi physical therapy office for patient rehabilitation.

“Our new Ascension Via Christi Therapy Center location is in a prime location in an established medical corridor with room to expand our services as the demand for outpatient physical and occupational therapy continues to grow,” said Laurie Labarca, president of Ascension Via Christi St. Teresa and Ascension Via Christi Rehabilitation Hospital, in an e-mail.

The new PT clinic will open in early October and will accept referrals from all providers.

It joins six other Ascension PT clinics.

The immediate care clinic is within the main AOA clinic. It will have four exam rooms and have X-ray available.

“We will have extended hours,” Ermey said.

The clinic will be open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday.

Ermey said the clinic will use signs and its website to be clear it’s not a regular immediate care clinic to try to avoid any confusion.

“There’s always the potential of that.”

She said anyone with a common cold or other issues will be referred to other clinics because this one is for orthopedic treatment only.

“We just felt like patient care needed this, and Wichita needed this.”