Hibernian and Charter Medical to open more Clinics
Hibernian Health and Charter Medical are planning to open more “urgent care” clinics around the country.
The health insurer and the Irish-owned healthcare operator opened their first clinic, the Xpress Med Urgent Care Centre, in
Dave Shanahan, chief executive of Charter Medical, said there were opportunities for many more clinics in metropolitan areas, particularly where the local accident and emergency departments were stretched for staff.
The health insurer described Xpress Med as the first community-based urgent care service which was led and supervised by consultants in emergency medicine, in addition to providing a GP out-of- hours home visit service.
Shanahan said the concept was aimed at people who would traditionally have gone to a tertiary hospital for treatment. “It will help free up public hospitals by providing a service for people who really don’t need to go to a hospital”.
Charter, which will run the clinic, said patients would be seen within one hour of arriving at the centre in
Xpress Med is open to everyone, and costs €105 for assessment. Hibernian members pay €75. Shanahan said the Clinic could accommodate up to 100 patients a day. Charter Medical already operates a €20 million community clinic in
Shanahan, a former boss of multinational giant Pfizer, said Charter’s community clinic was seeing about 140 to 150 patients daily. A third of those were public patients, he said.
