MedExpress closes in Haverhill, mayor looks to recruit another urgent care provider

Mike LaBella, The Eagle-Tribune, North Andover, Mass.
·3 min read

Sep. 1—HAVERHILL — MedExpress in Monument Square opened in the summer of 2015 and for seven years it served members of the community seeking urgent care.

Resident who used MedExpress will now have to go elsewhere.

Mark Katich, vice president of operations for MedExpress, announced on social media earlier this week that the last day for serving patients at his company's 296 Main St. location was Aug. 31.

He gave no specific reason other than to say, "MedExpress has made the difficult decision to close this location."

Mayor James Fiorentini said the closing of MedExpress is a loss to the city and that he's looking to recruit another urgent care provider willing to come to Haverhill.

"We need it in this community," Fiorentini said. "Urgent care facilities are set up to relieve the pressure on emergency rooms, which some people use as their family doctor."

Community Health Coordinator Mary Connolly said MedExpress in Monument Square was a helpful resource to all ages and accessible by public transportation.

"My understanding is they held a VA contract in addition to treating other community members seeking medical help that wasn't emergency department level of care," she said. "I have heard they were seeing 60 to 80 patients daily. I fear Holy Family Hospital Merrimack Valley ED (Emergency Department) may feel an impact by losing this resource.

"We frequently referred residents there that were in need of care and unable to schedule a timely appointment with their primary physician or who did not have a primary care physician," she added.

Connolly said that locally, CVS has Minute Clinic locations in Amesbury, Andover and Salem N.H. AFC Urgent Care has locations in Methuen and North Andover and Pentucket Medical has PMA Express Care in Lawrence at the Riverwalk location.

Just over the Plaistow line, ClearChoiceMD Urgent Care is located at 127 Plaistow Road while a new ConvenientMD urgent care center is under construction on Route 125, across the street from the WalMart plaza, according to town officials.

MedExpress in Monument Square was part of Veterans Affairs' contracted network of community providers.

Kat Bailey, public affairs officer for VA Bedford Health Care system, posted a notice on the VA website indicating veterans can still access urgent care using VA's Facility Locator at www.va.gov/find-locations.

"The urgent care benefit is offered to Veterans in addition to urgent care and same-day services VA provides through its medical facilities," she said, adding that eligible veterans can receive urgent care from a provider who is part of VA's contracted network of community providers without prior authorization from VA.

Details about qualifying emergency care can be found at www.va.gov/communitycare/programs/veterans/emergency_care.asp.

Katich noted in his social media announcement that patients can still access "high-quality affordable health care" from home with MedExpress Virtual Visits and to visit online at www.medexpress.com.

He noted that patient medical records are available by calling 304-985-3636 or online at www.medexpress.com/medical-records.