UofL Health Urgent Care Plus expanding west Louisville access

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - UofL Health’s Urgent Care Plus is expanding in west Louisville’s Parkland neighborhood.

Greater medical access will be provided, and patient disparity will be reduced thanks to a $350,000 donation by Ted Nixon and Frank Harshaw, according to a release.

“When we opened the Parkland Clinic location in 2021, it was part of UofL Health’s commitment to expand access and reduce barriers to care in our community,” UofL Health CEO Tom Miller said in the release. “This considerable gift helps reduce specific disparities and brings specialty care into this neighborhood.”

An Echo machine expanding onsite cardiology services at the Parkland Clinic is being funded from more than half of the donation. The release stated that cardiologists at the clinic will be able to use the ultrasound machine to look at the structure and function of a patient’s heart on site.

Cardiologist Dr. Kim Williams discussed how important it is to have access to this heart care within walking distance and discussed how health disparities have affected underserved communities like the Parkland neighborhood.

”It’s not just lives,” Dr. Williams said. “But it’s actually illness and the ability to be productive in terms of economics and education. And so having access to care is such an integral part of fixing this problem. Cardiac imaging is something that you will see that there are health care disparities even in that. That is the people that are minorities, the socio-economically deprived don’t get imaging, they don’t get access to specialists.”

Another portion of the investment will make room for a full-time licensed clinical social worker who can provide social services such as individual therapy.

The rest of the donation is dedicated to identifying patient barriers to medical access.

”A lot of patients I know historically do not want to go downtown,” UofL Health nurse Izegbea Cannon said. “The biggest thing for them is transportation. And then the parking. They don’t feel comfortable.”

UofL Leaders say their hope is that this will transform the lives of those living in and around Parkland, creating a one-stop shop for urgent and primary care needs.

“Heart disease is the leading cause of death for people in the U.S., and tragically, the rates are even greater among African Americans,” Williams said. “As a cardiologist who is seeing patients at west Louisville’s Urgent Care Plus, I know this equipment will help provide patients with real-time information and help prevent them from additional visits at further locations.”

To learn more about the Urgent Care Plus center in the Parkland neighborhood, click here.

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