Washington Regional to Open Urgent Care Center in Johnson

by Talk Business & Politics ([email protected]) 243 views 

Urgent care centers represent a $16 billion industry and are “one of the fastest growing segments of the American health care system,” according to a report published in November by market research company IBISWorld.

Washington Regional Medical System is responding to the growing consumer appetite. A spokeswoman for the Fayetteville-based organization tells Whispers that the company will soon build a new urgent care center facility in Johnson.

WRMS currently operates an urgent care clinic at 3017 N. Bob Younkin Drive in Fayetteville.

In response to a question from Whispers about the development, Gina Maddox offered the following statement: “In partnership with a developer, we are constructing a small building in Johnson. One of the services that is to be offered there is Washington Regional Urgent Care.”

A subordination and non-disturbance agreement — an agreement between a tenant, a landlord and the landlord’s lender that lays out certain rights among the three parties — was filed Jan. 25 at the Washington County Courthouse.

It’s essentially a document that says if a building ever falls into foreclosure, the previous landlord’s bank wouldn’t kick out the tenant.

The rundown, according to the documents, is:

Tenant: Washington Regional Medical System.

Landlord: Johnson Square Medical Building I LLC, managed by Springdale investor Gerald Johnston, who is a retired executive with Tyson Foods Inc., and Larry Shackelford, a senior vice president with WRMS.

Lender: Chambers Bank of Danville, with a construction mortgage of $3.74 million.

The new building will be constructed on land owned by Johnston at the southwest corner of Johnson Mill Boulevard and Main Drive, just east of James at the Mill restaurant.

There was no word from Maddox when construction might begin, but a C.R. Crawford Construction jobsite trailer is already parked at the location, so it appears imminent.

WRMS is currently in the middle of a $60 million expansion project to build a 100,000-SF, five-story tower on the west side of its hospital campus in Fayetteville, adjoining the existing Johnelle Hunt Women’s Center.

The organization also broke ground Jan. 28 on a $19 million, 66,000-SF medical services building at the corner of Bob Younkin Drive and Appleby Road, a 5.9-acre site across the street from the hospital campus.