CHARLESTON, W.Va. - There's a new competitor on the block for urgent health care in Charleston.

On Nov. 6, Morgantown-based MedExpress is opening an urgent care center on MacCorkle Avenue in Kanawha City, just nine blocks east of the HealthPlus Urgent Care clinic, which is owned by Charleston Area Medical Center.

"There's a gap that exists between primary care and emergency care," said Eric Lipphardt, vice president of development and marketing at MedExpress. "We fill that gap."

For years, CAMC's HealthPlus - with clinics in Kanawha City, St. Albans and Cross Lanes, and a new site opening near Dudley Farms Plaza later this year - has faced little or no competition in the Kanawha Valley for patients seeking urgent care for everything from a bad cold to broken bones and severe wounds.

MedExpress and HealthPlus offer the same hours - 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., seven days a week. Patients walk in and wait to be served at both centers. A doctor is always present.

But MedExpress has distinguished itself from the competition by providing a warm, cozy "welcoming environment" that features bamboo-covered floors and granite countertops, Lipphardt said.

Most patients are treated in less than an hour. The company's motto is "great care fast."

"We fully staff the centers to get the patients in and out very quickly," Lipphardt said. "We're all committed to a customer-service approach. Our patients get the quality care they deserve quickly."

MedExpress operates 26 centers in four states: West Virginia, Colorado, Florida and Pennsylvania.

The company also is opening a new urgent care center Nov. 5 at Gabriel's Plaza on U.S. 60 in Huntington.

Earlier this year, Wheeling Hospital asked the West Virginia Health Care Authority to investigate MedExpress after the company announced plans to build a facility in Wheeling.

Wheeling Hospital officials asserted that MedExpress should be subject to state regulation because its urgent care centers are "ambulatory care facilities." MedExpress responded that it operates private physician practices exempt from state review.

Meanwhile, CAMC lawyers wrote a letter, asking the Health Care Authority to stop MedExpress from opening other centers in West Virginia until the investigation concluded. Raleigh General Hospital did the same.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - There's a new competitor on the block for urgent health care in Charleston.

On Nov. 6, Morgantown-based MedExpress is opening an urgent care center on MacCorkle Avenue in Kanawha City, just nine blocks east of the HealthPlus Urgent Care clinic, which is owned by Charleston Area Medical Center.

"There's a gap that exists between primary care and emergency care," said Eric Lipphardt, vice president of development and marketing at MedExpress. "We fill that gap."

For years, CAMC's HealthPlus - with clinics in Kanawha City, St. Albans and Cross Lanes, and a new site opening near Dudley Farms Plaza later this year - has faced little or no competition in the Kanawha Valley for patients seeking urgent care for everything from a bad cold to broken bones and severe wounds.

MedExpress and HealthPlus offer the same hours - 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., seven days a week. Patients walk in and wait to be served at both centers. A doctor is always present.

But MedExpress has distinguished itself from the competition by providing a warm, cozy "welcoming environment" that features bamboo-covered floors and granite countertops, Lipphardt said.

Most patients are treated in less than an hour. The company's motto is "great care fast."

"We fully staff the centers to get the patients in and out very quickly," Lipphardt said. "We're all committed to a customer-service approach. Our patients get the quality care they deserve quickly."

MedExpress operates 26 centers in four states: West Virginia, Colorado, Florida and Pennsylvania.

The company also is opening a new urgent care center Nov. 5 at Gabriel's Plaza on U.S. 60 in Huntington.

Earlier this year, Wheeling Hospital asked the West Virginia Health Care Authority to investigate MedExpress after the company announced plans to build a facility in Wheeling.

Wheeling Hospital officials asserted that MedExpress should be subject to state regulation because its urgent care centers are "ambulatory care facilities." MedExpress responded that it operates private physician practices exempt from state review.

Meanwhile, CAMC lawyers wrote a letter, asking the Health Care Authority to stop MedExpress from opening other centers in West Virginia until the investigation concluded. Raleigh General Hospital did the same.

In May, the Health Care Authority sided with MedExpress, ruling the company's urgent care centers meet the criteria for a private practice.

"In the Wheeling case, we reviewed all of the specific facts, there was a lot of discussion, and we ultimately decided it was not reviewable," said Sonia Chambers, the authority's executive director.

Chambers said the agency hasn't received additional requests to investigate MedExpress.

CAMC officials declined comment last week.

MedExpress also has urgent care centers in Morgantown, Parkersburg and Beckley.

Lipphardt said MedExpress forges positive relationships with hospitals and doctors in communities where it opens urgent care centers.

"We want to be recognized as a vital part of the health care network in the community," he said.

In addition to treating minor illnesses and injuries, MedExpress' urgent care centers give physicals and vaccinations, and offer X-ray and lab services.

Four emergency medicine physicians in WVU's residency program founded MedExpress in 2001. Company President Dr. Frank Alderman grew up in White Sulphur Springs. Two other company founders also are West Virginia natives.

MedExpress employs about 15 people at each of its urgent care centers.

"It's a huge West Virginia success story," Lipphardt said. "We're a great company taking care of patients every day."

Reach Eric Eyre at erice...@wvgazette.com or 348-4869.