American Family Care (AFC), the nation's largest chain of urgent care and primary care clinics, is adding its sixth medical office in the Chattanooga area today as it moves toward more than doubling in size over the next five years.
AFC will open a clinic at 8 a.m. at Wolftever Crossing on Old Lee Highway in Ooltewah. The new location is independently owned and operated by Larry Kugler and his business partners, along with their medical directors Dr. Todd Rudolph and Dr. Natasha Ballard.
Rudolph graduated from Texas Tech University School of Medicine in Lubbock, Texas. Ballard graduated from Ross University School of Medicine and completed her family medicine residency at Floyd Medical Center in Rome, Ga., where she was chief resident.
"We're excited to continue working with Larry Kugler and his team to fulfill our mission of making quality healthcare accessible and economical with the opening of our newest medical center in Chattanooga," said Dr. Bruce Irwin, who founded American Family Care in Birmingham, Ala., in 1982 and remains the company's CEO. "The opening of this clinic, along with additional AFC locations planned for the Tennessee area in the coming months, provides us the opportunity to serve the community with quality healthcare in a manner that also saves them time and money."
The clinic will serve patients seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekends.
The new clinic is the 174th AFC unit in the United States and the 17th in Tennessee.
Over the past three decades, AFC has pioneered the concept of non-emergency room urgent care and expanded its footprint to more than 26 states. All AFC clinics are designed, equipped and staffed to provide accessible primary care, urgent care, and minor emergency treatment.
By the end of 2017, AFC expects to have more than 200 facilities serving more than 2 million patients a year. During the next five years, the company plans to have more than 500 urgent care clinics across the U.S.