LEWISTON — Central Maine Healthcare is opening a walk-in clinic in Bridgton, and more projects may be coming.
The clinic will share a building with North Bridgton Family Practice at 14 Wyonegonic Road, off Route 37. Patients don’t need to have a relationship with the practice, Bridgton Hospital or CMHC in order to attend the clinic.
The medical practice and clinic will be called the North Bridgton Family Practice & Walk-In Clinic. The clinic is scheduled to open Feb. 15 and will be available to patients from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
The clinic will provide quick access to primary care and lab draw services. Unlike many urgent care centers, it will not have an X-ray machine.
“We heard from the community that access to primary care was their most important health care concern,” CEO Jeff Brickman said in a statement Tuesday. “And we know that the community wants same-day options, without having to wait for an appointment or make an expensive visit to the ER. This is a big step toward meeting those needs.”
Services will be billed at the level of a doctor’s office visit rather than the more expensive emergency room visit.
The move comes a year after CMHC closed its urgent care center at Bridgton Hospital. That facility charged at a hospital rate.
CMHC spokeswoman Kate Carlisle said Tuesday that CMHC will announce more developments in the coming weeks.
“We are evolving our model to meet the needs of the community,” she said in an email, adding that “future developments will address expressed requests/needs for different or additional models of care.”
CMHC is the parent of Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston, Bridgton Hospital, Rumford Hospital and an array of medical practices.
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