DirectCare of Parsons, located at 149 Ivy Lane, closed for patient care services March 31. In an ad in The Parsons Advocate March 29, Davis Medical Center said the closure was for a transition while they formed a new partnership for medical care with the St. George Clinic. An ad in The Parsons Advocate on April 12 said the St. George Clinic could not reach an agreement with Davis Health System that would be beneficial to both parties.
PARSONS – Davis Medical Center announced it would close DirectCare of Parsons March 31 in anticipation of a new partnership for medical care with St. George Clinic, however, officials from St. George Clinic announced in April the two were unable to reach an agreement that was beneficial to both parties. Local residents have been asking questions and are curious what medical services will be offered in the Parsons area by the two entities.
St. George Clinic CEO Paul Wamsley said the clinic is seeking an alternative location to provide services and to locate a pharmacy. He said St. George Clinic had previously contracted with Davis Medical Center to provide pharmacy services, but said they have decided to potentially move forward with opening their own facility that will provide patient care and pharmacy services.
“We wanted to put in primary care services and evening hours which would not compete with us here or at the school,” Wamsley said. “Folks were requesting additional hours in Parsons. Dr. Hahn had a pediatrician who wants to come up several times a month to see pediatric patients. We want to offer digital x-ray services, orthopedic services twice a month, ultrasound and OB-GYN services.”
Wamsley said the St. George Clinic has a longstanding history of supporting Davis Health Systems and said that they will continue to refer patients to Davis Medical Center and to specialty physicians as they see fit.
Tracy Fath, vice president for planning and marketing at Davis Health System, said they closed DirectCare of Parsons in anticipation of an agreement with St. George Clinic that did not happen.
“We do not know exactly what we will offer in the DirectCare of Parsons location right now,” Fath said. “We are going to try to figure out what it needs to be. We are going to take some time to decide what will be there. We did not actively recruit anyone when we thought we would be leasing the space. Now we do not have anyone recruited for that facility.”
Fath said they are going back to what they said in the fall.
“There is already a lot of saturation in the community for family care,” Fath said. “There is Mountaintop Clinic, Dr. Schmitt and St. George Clinic. Is it a good idea to put in something a duplicate what is working well in the community? Or do we start to explore other ways to serve the county health needs?”
Fath said DMC has a number of patients that see physicians in their group that are from Tucker County.
“We are going to go back to the Tucker County Commission, the Tucker County Health Department and the Tucker County Senior Center to find out what voids we might be able to fill,” Fath said. “So that is where we are right now. We are putting a game plan together to get some discussions and work with different groups to see what we can do that will be of value and of need to the county.”
Fath said because they have time, they plan to work through the process methodically to learn what is really needed.
“We know Community Care Pharmacy will remain open,” Fath said. “It is a strong pharmacy and it is well-utilized in the community. They do a great job servicing patients so the pharmacy will stay.”
