Hospital opens Staunton Outpatient Center

Augusta Health will open the Staunton Outpatient Center—a facility that will include an urgent care clinic, a laboratory and imaging services in one location—at 851 Statler Boulevard in February 2012.

The urgent care clinic will be open seven days a week and staffed by Augusta Health Emergency Department physicians to treat acute illnesses, acute injuries and acute medical problems. Urgent care will be a walk-in service; no appointments required.

“The urgent care clinic in our Staunton Outpatient Center will complement our local physician offices and our convenient care clinics,” says L. Courtenay Beebe, MD, executive director of August Medical Group.  “It will be open weekends and later hours to diagnose and handle more complicated conditions—such as nausea with vomiting, lacerations requiring stitches and possible broken bones—than those that can be taken care of at the convenient care clinics in Walmart.  At convenient care, our well-qualified nurse practitioners handle routine health issues like strep throats or sinus infections. Our urgent care clinic will be able serve our patients who are sicker and really need the diagnostic and technical skills of a physician.”

Outpatient laboratory and imaging services will be available Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. through 5 p.m. and will include standard lab tests, X-ray services, Dexascan bone density screenings and screening mammograms.  These services will also be walk-in, although appointments will be available for specific procedures like mammograms.

“We’ve simply outgrown our existing location in Staunton for lab and imaging, and need more room to serve our patients,” explains Dr. Beebe.  “In evaluating our community’s healthcare options, we also identified a real need for additional urgent care services.  Our urgent care clinic in Weyers Cave has been very well-received, and Augusta Health is excited to extend that service to the Staunton community.  It made sense to combine all the services in one location to make it convenient for everyone.”

“People don’t necessarily get sick or hurt during regular office hours.  The Staunton Outpatient Center—with its community location and expanded hours—will be another way for Augusta Health to provide convenient access to care,” adds Dr. Beebe.  “We’re very pleased to be able to provide this new service to our community.”