GuideWell Emergency Doctors opening third location in central Florida

June 29, 2016

ORLANDO, Fla. – GuideWell Emergency Doctors announced it will open a third location west of Orlando. The state-of-the-art, high-acuity urgent care facility will be located at 9580 West Colonial Drive in Ocoee across from the West Oaks Mall, near the highly anticipated City Center West build out, and is targeted to open during the first quarter of 2017.

GuideWell Emergency Doctors provides an innovative, cost-effective solution for unscheduled medical needs with a new health care model that bridges the gap between the convenience and low cost of an urgent care clinic, and the capability to treat advanced medical cases often sought at a hospital emergency room. The facilities are staffed by board-certified emergency medicine physicians.

“At all our current facilities, we’ve had tremendous positive feedback from patients regarding their experience accessing high quality, efficient care and, equally important, the visits being far more personal and affordable than going to the emergency room,” said Prakash Patel, M.D., Chief Operating Officer of GuideWell and President of GuideWell Health. “Based on this and other market drivers, we recognize there is an ongoing need for this type of innovative care in Central Florida, and we are eager to expand our GuideWell Emergency Doctors footprint to the west side of Orlando to further serve the residents of the area.”

GuideWell Health teamed with Crucial Care to introduce GuideWell Emergency Doctors to the Orlando market in December 2014 with the opening of its location in Winter Park at Lakeside, across from Trader Joe’s. Its second facility east of Orlando at 1706 North Semoran Blvd. opened in August 2015.

"We are thrilled to be expanding our partnership with GuideWell Health. They continue to share our focus on delivering what’s best for patients, and together we will positively impact a lot of lives,” said Mike Shumer, CEO of Crucial Care. “People deserve access to the right care, at the right time, and at the right location. This partnership helps us achieve that goal.”

Similar to its two current facilities in Winter Park and Orlando, the new Ocoee location will be approximately 7,850 square feet and equipped with 21 examination rooms and on-site diagnostic equipment including CT scan, x-ray, ultrasound and certified labs, eliminating the need to send patients to other locations for diagnostic services or wait hours for results.

Upon discharge, GuideWell Emergency Doctors coordinates care directly with the patient’s primary care physician and can provide timely referrals to specialists or facilitate admissions directly into a hospital, when clinically appropriate, all while ensuring the patient remains within their insurance plan’s network of providers.

GuideWell Emergency Doctors accepts most insurance plans or patients can pay on their own. As part of the patient experience, the facilities provide transparent pricing to its patients, who are typically made aware how much their visits and treatments will cost before any services are started. The average cost of a major medical issue treated by GuideWell Emergency Doctors is one-third of the cost at a hospital emergency room.

Patients also receive only one bill for all diagnostic evaluations, procedures, lab work, physician examinations and other services provided while at the facility, unlike a visit to most traditional emergency rooms. GuideWell Emergency Doctors provide bilingual staff to treat patients of all ages and are open seven days a week Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

About GuideWell Emergency Doctors

GuideWell Emergency Doctors, LLC, was formed in 2014 by GuideWell Health, a wholly owned subsidiary of GuideWell Mutual Holding Corporation (GuideWell). The innovative medical facilities provide a high-quality, cost-effective alternative for unscheduled medical needs currently serving the Orlando market. The facilities are staffed by board certified emergency medicine physicians and medical staff capable of treating both major medical conditions and minor urgent care needs for patients of all ages. The facilities are operated by Jacksonville-based Crucial Care. For more information, visit guidewellemergency.com.

About GuideWell GuideWell Mutual Holding Corporation

(GuideWell) is a not-for-profit mutual holding company and the parent to a family of forward-thinking companies focused on transforming health care. The GuideWell organization includes the leading health insurance company in Florida, a number of health care delivery businesses, a consumer engagement company, and a provider of administrative services to state and federal health care programs. For more information, visit guidewell.com.

About Crucial Care

Founded in Jacksonville, Florida, a Crucial Care facility combines high quality, compassionate care with the ability to treat high caliber cases, like an emergency room and beyond those provided by an urgent care clinic. Each location features easy access to Board Certified Emergency Medicine Physicians with onsite CT Scan, Digital X Ray and laboratory. Each facility is open 7 days a week and no appointment is needed.