Ten years ago, a Tennessee physician and a nurse practitioner saw a need for urgent care in rural communities. Starting with one clinic in Collinwood, Tenn., Fast Pace Urgent Care has expanded rapidly.
The company opened its 84th clinic this week in Columbia. It will stay open until 8 p.m. on weekdays and also have hours on Saturday (8 a.m. to 6 p.m.) and Sunday (1 p.m. to 5 p.m.).
“You feel like you’re doing something worthwhile in helping people,” Dr. Reams Powers, one of the co-founders, said after a Marion County Development Partnership ribbon cutting Thursday.
Carolyn Burton of the MCDP welcomed the company to the city along with Mayor Justin McKenzie. McKenzie said wellness is an essential part of building up a community and that he’s excited about what Fast Pace will offer.
“If you’re sick in my house, you’re sick on Saturday night or Sunday, and there’s really been nowhere to go,” he said.
The clinic will employ eight people initially on two shifts of four each. That includes two nurse practitioners, Abby Jobe and Marquita Tucker. Tucker is a Columbia native, and Jobe is originally from McComb. Both graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi and now live in Hattiesburg.
Powers said they could add staff as the patient volume increases and noted they provide primary care for all ages as well as urgent care. He said they’re working on partnerships that will eventually allow them to have access to specialists through telemedicine, saying that’s the direction health care is heading.
Pictured Above: Nurse Practitioner Abby Jobe, center, holding scissors, cuts the ribbon along with fellow Nurse Practioner Marquita Tucker Thursday at the Fast Pace Urgent Care Clinic on U.S. 98. The new health care facility opened Friday and has hours seven days a week. | Photo by Charlie Smith
