Integrity Urgent Care open in Five Hills Shopping Center

By LYNETTE SOWELL

Cove Leader-Press 

The former location of Precision Urgent Care in the Five Hills Shopping Center was vacant after the closure of the walk-in medical facility in December 2016. 

However, that changed on August 1 when Integrity Urgent Care opened its doors and joined the business community in Copperas Cove. The walk-in clinic is owned by Dr. Eddy Dark and fellow business partners who are all either practicing physicians or physician assistants. Dark and his partners also own Integrity Urgent Care Clinic in Bryan/College Station. 

Dark said he was referred to Copperas Cove by a friend. 

“When Dr. Marsh shut down Precision Urgent Care, a friend of mine who knows Dr. Marsh called me and told me about it. He said, ‘Copperas Cove is a great community. This is a perfect place for one of these to exist,’” Dark said. The rest is history. 

“I came to Copperas Cove, met Dr. Marsh, saw the facility and loved it.” 

The clinic is open 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. seven days a week. It accepts self-paying patients and most insurance plans except Medicaid at this time. They will be an Aetna provider, come mid-August. The self-pay scale can be a benefit for those with a high emergency room deductible or otherwise have to pay out of pocket for care, said Moses Perez, LVN, who is the manager of the center.

A basic self-pay office visit starts at $110, which is one “point” on their self-pay scale. Additional points are added if x-rays, breathing treatments, laboratory work, or procedures are involved. The clinic can perform rapid strep and flu tests, as well as urinalysis and more. Most bills, for all treatment involved, end up being less than walking into the emergency room, said Perez. 

“All of us, everyone in the group, we are all ER people. We’ve all worked in the ER, trained in the ER,” said Dark. “So we like to say that we can do most everything people would go to the ER for, for about a tenth of the price. 

“We charge urgent care prices, but because all of us are trained ER, we can do splinting, casting, sutures that most clinics probably would not do. I’d like to tell patients, if you’re concerned, stop by here first. If we think it’s too much and think you need to go to the ER, we’ll help you get there and not charge you.”

The clinic was basically ready for Dark and his staff and partners to walk in and open their doors, with a few modifications. The décor was changed to create a softer and more relaxed seating in the reception area. The curtains in the examining room doorways have been replaced with white sliding barn doors and the rustic theme continues throughout, with the doors also enhancing patient privacy.

“When I was growing up, I hated going to the doctor. I hated it because it reminded me of that stinky antiseptic smell and shots,” Dark admitted. “But we tried to make it as homey as possible, things that you would see in your own house, but still be clean and professional. We don’t want it to be so sterile that kids are scared. Even adults get nervous going to the doctor.” 

Perez added that with flu season coming up this fall, the clinic can also perform visits to employers so that employees can obtain flu shots. Presently the clinic is also offering $25 back-to-school physicals.