Less than five years after opening an urgent care facility in East Brainerd, CHI Memorial has closed its Convenient Care-Atrium office on Gunbarrel Road to refocus its staff and facilities on more primary care operations.
The hospital closed the urgent care center Saturday, saying in a letter to its users that CHI Memorial will continue to provide care at its convenient care facilities in Cleveland, Tennessee, and LaFayette, Georgia. The Atrium location is the second convenient care outlet CHI Memorial has closed, but CHI said it is keeping its busier urgent care units in Cleveland and Lafayette open.
“We have taken a number of steps to improve the efficiency of our organization and reduce duplication of services as we navigate the tremendous financial strain resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic,” Karen Long, communications manager for CHI Memorial, said in a statement. “There are numerous urgent care centers located in the East Brainerd/Gunbarrel area, and we feel that it is time to shift more of our focus to primary care services.”
Within a mile of the CHI Convenient Care unit, there are other urgent care and emergency facilities offered at the ExpressCare clinic near Erlanger East Hospital and by AFC Urgent Care at its center on Gunbarrel Road.
The eight staff members who worked at CHI’s Convenient Care – Atrium through last week were given opportunities to work at other CHI clinics and facilities, Long said.
Long said Memorial plans to continue leasing space in the Atrium and grow its primary care services “as we recruit new primary care physicians to serve the East Brainerd area over the next one to two years.”
“This will help us streamline our workflows, provide more efficient patient care, and standardize support staff to extend our primary care service hours at that location,” Long said. “Patients will continue to see the same team at the same location, just in a primary care capacity rather than urgent care.”
The Atrium medical complex leased to CHI Memorial was sold in early 2022 for $27.6 million to Remedy Medical Properties Inc., which owns and manages more than 25.3 million square feet of medical offices and facilities in 42 states.
Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6340.