Metro Roundup: Urgent care orthopedic clinic opens in Trace Crossings

A new orthopedic urgent care clinic opened June 15 in the Trace Crossings community.

The full-service, walk-in clinic, called the OS1 Sports Injury Clinic, offers urgent care specifically for sports-related and orthopedic-related injuries ranging from fractures, dislocations, sprains and overuse injuries.

Chip Vance, CEO and president of a new company called OS1 Holdings, said the concept is not new, but it’s new to the Birmingham area. Two aspects that make it unique are that you don’t have to have an appointment and the clinic has office hours that extend beyond a typical doctors’ office.

The OS1 Sports Injury Clinic, located in a 3,600-square-foot space in The Village at Brock’s Gap next to The Trak Shak, is open from 10 a.m.to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and 1-6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Also, the clinic has a fellowship-trained sports medicine physician, Dr. Chris Williams, at the helm. Williams is scheduled to complete his fellowship and clinical training at the Andrews Sports Medicine and Orthopaedic Center at the end of July.

Because Williams has trained with orthopedic surgeons, he knows what needs to happen to get patients ready for surgery, Vance said.

Williams is a graduate of the LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans and completed his residency at the LSU Health Sciences Center in Shreveport, with a specialty in emergency medicine.

He has worked in several emergency rooms in Louisiana and in Birmingham, giving him experience dealing with traumatic injuries. Williams said he’s excited about opening the new clinic and the future of this type of enterprise.

The clinic also has comprehensive diagnostic imaging equipment on site, including a digital X-ray machine and extremity MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) machine, so patients won’t have to go elsewhere and wait longer to get results.

Being seen and getting test results and treatment quickly can make a big difference in the recovery and healing time for orthopedic injuries, Vance said.

The business model for the OS1 Sports Injury Clinic was developed through the collaboration of its founders: Bill Dexheimer (who has founded several health care and health care information technology businesses), Dr. Lyle Cain, Dr. Jeffrey Dugas, Dr. Bruce Irwin (the founder of American Family Care), Randy Johansen (president of American Family Care), Dr. A.J. “Lonnie” Strickland, John Miller (professor of strategic management at the University of Alabama Graduate School of Business), Dr. Kennie Bramlett and several other orthopedic physicians and executives.

The goal was to take the medical experience that most people have and create a more service-minded option for the public, Vance said. That includes the extended office hours and a focus on communication with the patient and, in the case of children, their parents, he said. They want to make sure everything is fully explained so no one walks away with unanswered questions, he said.

Hoover was picked for the company’s first clinic because of the active lifestyles of people who live in the area, including youth, adults and senior adults, Vance said. That includes everything from sports to people who are weekend warriors or avid gardeners, he said.

Trace Crossings was deemed a good location because of the proximity to thousands of homes, three schools — Hoover High, Bumpus Middle and Trace Crossings Elementary — and the Hoover Metropolitan Complex, which features a sprawling sports complex that draws both Hoover residents and visitors from across the country, Vance said.

The clinic in Trace Crossings is the first of 15 clinics that OS1 Holdings plans to open in the next three to five years, Vance said. Conversations already are in the works to open clinics in Huntsville and Newark, New Jersey, he said. Each clinic will be owned by a physician or group of physicians and managed by OS1.

Vance was brought in because of his customer service experience with Enterprise Holdings, where he spent the past 12 years as vice president and general manager for the company’s north Florida region, overseeing 60 Enterprise locations and four business entities.

In addition to Williams, the Trace Crossings clinic should have six other full-time or part-time employees, including a nurse practitioner, medical assistants, X-ray technician and receptionist, Vance said.