Urgent care center to open in Richmond Hill on Hwy 144

RICHMOND HILL, Ga. (WTOC) - As Richmond Hill grows, so too does it’s need for healthcare access.

The St. Joseph’s/Candler Health System is answering the call bringing a new urgent care facility off Highway 144 in front of Publix.

All this construction will soon become a $4 million urgent care to help bring access to Richmond Hill.

“This is really the fulfillment of a dream that started a long time ago. Fortunately, a combination of strategy, luck, and prayers, we’ve done OK on it,” St. Joseph’s/Candler Health System President and CEO Paul Hinchey said.

While they have had some doctors’ offices in Richmond Hill for 30 years, St. Joseph’s/Candler broke ground to add a 10,000 square foot urgent care. It’s their eighth in the region and one way they are bringing healthcare directly to communities.

They say these practices can handle 80 percent of all medical surprises and are more affordable for patients. Richmond Hill’s mayor says this is something his city could use.

“COVID has very much revealed that it was very much needed in that our other facilities that we currently have do an excellent job, but they have been inundated because of the pandemic. The pandemic going away hopefully we will still need better higher quality medical care and we’re a growing community, so we need the services to match,” Mayor Russ Carpenter said.

While this facility has been in the works for a few years, it’s part of a larger plan for Bryan County. Hinchey says they are working on details of a larger medical complex.

“None of it is done in isolation. Health care like when you make a quilt, it’s all got to look like it’s one piece and you begin with the end in mind so we’ve already thought that all through on how this project you can easily get from 144 to a much larger medical complex easily,” he said.

He says that project won’t be announced until 2022, but the Richmond Hill urgent care should be open in early September.

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