RIO GRANDE – A loaf of bread, a dozen eggs, a quart of milk and a cure for a sore throat, fever, earache or rash. That’s what a proposed walk-in health center hopes to offer patrons of the Rio Grande Shop Rite.
Representatives for the proposed walk-in health center are scheduled to appear before Middle Township Planning Board Dec. 11 to apply for a parking variance and site plan waiver that will allow the center to open a facility inside the busy supermarket. Plans call for its location to be in the front portion of the store where novelty items are currently stocked.
RiteCare, which has two other Shop Rite-based facilities in Cumberland County, will be a first for Cape May County. It is owned by its parent company, Community Health Care, Inc., which also owns CompleteCare in Court House. A second CompleteCare health facility has been proposed in Wildwood and is currently going through the zoning process in that municipality.
According to Emily Paul, Director of Public Relations and Program Development for Community Health Care, the proposed in-store urgent center will be the first for the corporation in Cape May County.
Services at the center will be limited to treatment for maladies such as sore throats, fever, coughs, earaches and rashes. The center will also offer inoculations for tetanus, pneumonia and flu shots, along with tuberculosis testing. Screenings for diabetes, vision and body mass index (BMI) will be offered along with school sports physicals.
The urgent center will not offer treatment such as suturing, said Dr. Cheryl Bettigola, Community Health Care’s Chief Medical Officer.
“We can definitely treat sprains and bruises, but anything requiring suturing would have to go to the E.R.,” she said.
The center will offer family planning, according to a brochure.
“The RiteCares that we currently run are very popular,” said Paul. “It’s very useful after hours and especially on the weekends to be able to see a provider; especially if you have a child that has an earache or something. This is a good alternative.”
The Rio Grande Shop Rite was chosen by the company based on its relationship with other Shop Rites in surrounding counties.
“Because we’re in the Shop Rites we have a great relationship with the organization. We’ve done really well with our relationships with the Shop Rites in Vineland and Upper Deerfield,” said Paul. “We wanted to be in Rio Grande. We know it’s a very popular area and we know we’d have a lot of patients who would be using it. In looking around in how we could expand our RiteCare, that just looked like a very likely place for us to go.”
With a second Shop Rite recently opened in Marmora, Community Health is not turning its eye northward at the moment.
“We don’t have any plans to go to any other Shop Rites,” Paul stated. “We want to get into Rio Grande and see how that goes.”
According to Bettigola, she has heard from patients as well as emergency room physicians this area has a need for afterhours and weekend medical care for treatment of non-emergent conditions.
“There needs to be a place people can go for things that don’t require an emergency room but are miserable and they don’t want to wait until morning,” Bettigola said. “It’s basically to meet the need in the community.”
Representatives from Community Health have met with Cape Regional Medical Center to discuss the company’s urgent center.
“They’re very excited for us,” Colleen DeClaudio, Vice President, Business Services. “Their urgent care center is packed, their E.R. is packed, so they’re welcoming us and excited for our presence in the community.”
Bettigola said the center is to supplement the patient’s medical care, not act in lieu of a relationship with a primary care practitioner.
“The way use this for our patients is basically as an additional service for them. A lot of working people have trouble taking time off during the day, especially for a sick visit. We really encourage people to get primary care,” said the doctor.
While hours for the Rio Grande center are yet to be determined, Cumberland County facilities are: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from noon until 8 p.m.; Thursday from 4 p.m. until 8 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 12:30 p.m. until 4:30 p.m. The local center will be staffed by one nurse practitioner as well as one administrative staff member.
The center will accept all insurances, including Medicaid, Medicare, private insurances and self-pay in addition to New Jersey charity care for patients who fall below 250% of the poverty level, said DeClaudio. Patients without insurance who do not qualify for New Jersey charity care or not a resident of the state will be charged a flat fee of $65.
If given approval by Planning and Zoning, the company anticipates opening the urgent center during the first three months of 2013.
“We can’t wait to open,” said Curtis Edwards, Executive Vice President of Special Services.
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