American Family Care, or AFC Urgent Care, opened a new location in Lenoir, NC, along Blowing Rock Boulevard on Thursday, Dec. 5. To celebrate the new opening, AFC, Lenoir and Caldwell Chamber officials came together to celebrate the grand opening at the facility in a ceremony that ran from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
According to a release from the company, AFC was founded by Dr. Bruce Irwin with a single location in 1982. AFC has since become the nation’s leading provider of urgent care, accessible primary care, and occupational medicine, with more than 300 clinics and 600 in-network physicians caring for nearly 3 million patients a year. AFC’s stated mission is to provide the best healthcare possible in a kind and caring environment, while respecting the rights of all patients, in an economical manner, at times and locations convenient to the patient.
“People come to us hurt, and they leave a little bit better,” Fromm said. “We’re proud to be a part of this business. We learned when we got into this business … that there had to be a solution to help accommodate those kinds of needs, and urgent care was born.”
Fromm said that around 42% of hospital emergency room visits each year were unnecessary, and that urgent cares, by taking the load off the hospital and providing cheaper care, could save Americans millions each year.
Speaking about the facility, marketing director Rachel Davis said the Lenoir location was the 24th location in the eastern Tennessee-western North Carolina region.
AFC seeks to provide the best possible care and a solution to each patient to the problems they are experiencing, Davis said. The clinic’s goal is to get each patient seen, helped, and on their way within an hour with a 100% rate of satisfaction. To that end, the clinic has the ability to run labs and x-rays. It has a process room for treatments from stitches to IVs. The facility is prepared to offer OB/GYN care for women’s health needs.
After a brief speech by Fromm and additional remarks from Caldwell Chamber President Bryan Moore and from Lenoir Mayor Joseph Gibbons, staff and officials from all attending groups gathered in the waiting room for a ribbon cutting, officially opening the facility for service.
