Price Ringgold Drugstore owner/pharmacist Chuck Gass, left, shakes hands with Ringgold Ready Clinic nurse practitioner Leslie Weaver.A registered nurse for 25 years and a nurse practitioner for two, Leslie Weaver has always dreamed of having her own medical clinic.
After working for a Memorial Hospital-affiliated practice in LaFayette called Professional Park Associates, she was able to realize that dream in Ringgold.
Run by Weaver, Ringgold Ready Clinic welcomes patients Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. With a focus on acute illness – something she said she saw a need for at Professional Park Associates – she is able to diagnose and treat most cases. But beginning Oct. 7, Dr. Michael Wilson will be at the clinic for a half day on Fridays to help with anything she can’t.
“Being a walk-in clinic, we can treat patients with the flu or sinus issues and patients with chronic conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure and asthma and COPD,” said Weaver. “In LaFayette, there were so many walk-ins of people with acute illness. There were so many doctors and it’s different; you call them [Professional Park Associates] and it’s hard to get an appointment.”
As the new practice grows, Weaver said hours and staff will be added.
“As we grow, we will eventually be open six days a week,” she said. “I see patients in assisted livings on Tuesdays in Dalton. As we grow, we will hire more nurse practitioners to work other days.”
The journey to having her own clinic was a fortuitous one, and should prove so for patients, as the clinic is located next to locally owned pharmacy Price Ringgold Drugstore, through which people can enter the clinic and vice versa.
“I wanted to have a clinic in Ringgold and [pharmacist] Chuck [Gass] needed someone to come into this space, and he wanted a nurse practitioner, so it worked out,” she said.
Ringgold Ready Clinic takes most major health insurance and welcomes patients age 5 and up, though childhood immunizations are not on offer. Basically everything else that one would go to a family care provider for, however, is, and Weaver said the clinic can save people money.
The clinic offers what Weaver calls a Health Saver Card. For $50 for an individual or $125 for a family, the card grants discounted rates for a year, and can be renewed annually.
“With that card they can get discount rates and can be seen for as little as $45,” Weaver explained. “If they don’t want the card, the self-pay rate is $60.
“It’s good for people without insurance.”
To learn more, visit ringgoldreadyclinic.com, call 706-935-3600 or search for Ringgold Ready Clinic on Facebook.