Cedar Falls, Iowa (July 21, 2014) – A partnership between Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare-Iowa (WFH) and Hy-Vee will bring the first walk-in health clinic to a retail setting in the Cedar Valley. The new clinic, Convenient Care Express, will be located inside College Square Hy-Vee, 6301 University Avenue in Cedar Falls. It is scheduled to open July 29.
Convenient Care Express, a division of Covenant Clinic, will offer affordable health care for minor conditions and symptoms provided by a nurse practitioner. Among those symptoms seen and treated are allergies, sore throats, fevers, flu, cold, ear and sinus infections. Insurance can be billed or cash pay is also an option for consumers.
The WFH and Hy-Vee partnership allows access to health care in a setting that is already common to consumers. Hy-Vee started construction at the College Square location in March, enlarging its pharmacy and accommodating space for the clinic.
“We’re excited that we could help bring this convenient health care solution to the community,” said Jeff Sesker, store director at the College Square Hy-Vee. “We understand our customers’ lives are hectic, and through our in-store pharmacy, dietician and walk-in clinic services, we strive to make it easy for customers to live happier and healthier.”
With two busy walk-in clinics already in place – Convenient Care is in Cedar Falls and Waterloo – Covenant Clinic is making this move to provide more opportunities for patients to access health care providers in a convenient setting.
“This health care model exists in other metro areas across the country and it provides another opportunity for busy families to get treated for acute symptoms,” said Peter Camilli, director of clinic operations for WFH. “We encourage patients to build a relationship with a primary doctor but walk-in clinics exist for less serious conditions like colds or sinus infections, not the chronic conditions that require ongoing treatments. We feel this is a great opportunity to reach those people that might not otherwise have time in their busy day to schedule an appointment.”
The clinic will be open Monday through Friday, noon to 8:00 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. It will also be open on holidays. Patients must be 18 months or older and some age restrictions exist for select services.
Electronic medical records for patients already a part of the Covenant Clinic network will be available to providers; however, one does not need to be a current Covenant Clinic patient to be treated at Convenient Care Express.
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