Medical clinic opens in Walton County

FREEPORT, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) - There are many rural areas in the panhandle, and finding essential services that suit your needs in those areas can be difficult.

That’s why two nurses teamed up to bring more healthcare services to Walton County. Chassity Wilson, a family nurse practitioner, and Amy Russell, an advanced practice nurse practitioner, came together, along with their husbands who are both veterans, to open Freeport Primary & Immediate Care.

”This just kind of turned into a talk, into a real dream... that came true,” Wilson said. “We are still in a health care provider shortage area, so just being able to provide access to care for people here in Freeport; surrounding areas too. Niceville is not far, DeFuniak is not that far. We’re super excited to be here.”

Freeport Primary & Immediate Care opened its doors in mid-March, but Wilson and Russell told NewsChannel 7 they are already seeing the impact their clinic is having on the community.

“We’ve had good response, we’re very pleased with how we’ve been accepted within the community,” Russell said.

The clinic offers routine care, such as yearly checkups; they also offer immediate care and accept walk-ins for anyone who may be feeling under the weather. The clinic also offers cosmetic procedures such as botox and micro-needling.

Staff said, especially in smaller towns, the more medical resources there are, the better.

“We may provide the same service, but this is a very growing community. And needing more people to serve that community is very important,” Russell said. “We’ll take it step by step, but our intention is to be here long-term. We are hoping to continue to grow just as Freeport grows.”

For anyone who may be nervous about medical bills, Wilson said the doors are still open.

“We’re trying to accept most major insurance plans,” Wilson said. “We do have a walk-in self-pay rate that we will provide, and take it case by case to help families out to get the care that they need. We hope to continue to serve this community for a long time.”

The clinic will have an official grand opening on April 14. Wilson and Russell said they expect Freeport Mayor Russ Barley, Walton County Commissioner William “Boots” McCormick, and members of the Walton County Chamber of Commerce to attend. The event is open to the public, and members of the community are encouraged to come out and tour the clinic. The event will be complete with a ribbon cutting.

Russell told NewsChannel 7 they hope the clinic will help expand economic growth and opportunities in the area.

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