Mercy joins with GoHealth for upgraded urgent care
Feb. 7—With a blessing and a ribbon-cutting, officials with Mercy Hospital Joplin and others opened up a new urgent care center Tuesday in Joplin.
The new Mercy-GoHealth Urgent Care, located at 1421 S. Range Line, opened Tuesday for patients. The new clinic replaces the hospital's Mercy Convenient Care nearby and upgrades the services it makes available.
The expansion was done in collaboration with GoHealth, a nationwide chain of urgent care facilities. Mercy has built combined centers with GoHealth in other communities since 2018.
GoHealth has more than 195 such centers across the country and has partnered with 10 health care systems such as Mercy. The goal is to speed access and treatment by integrating doctors and specialists into each visit.
Mark McNemar, president of the clinic, said the new urgent care clinic now accommodates a wait-in-place system, where patients can call ahead to book an appointment and wait in their car or at home until their scheduled time.
The partnership with GoHealth also allows the center to treat more medical situations than usual.
Allison Rhodes, executive director of operations for primary care, said clinicians will be able to perform more thorough treatments, such as lab work and treatment for injuries such as fractures and sprains.
Each room also features an integrated patient portal, Rhodes said, so a patient's entire medical history is available on screens in their exam room.
More information about the center, including how to book an appointment, is available on its website, www.gohealthuc.com/mercy-joplin.
