Local patients who have an Ascension St. Vincent doctor or need immediate care for an illness or injury have a new option for care that’s closer to home than ever before.
The newly opened St. Vincent Medical Group-Greenwood is the health system’s first medical center in Johnson County. The facility will feature offices for primary care and family medicine physicians, as well as suites where people can get imaging such as X-rays, ultrasounds or CT scans.
Specially built space is available for specialists such as gynecology oncologists and cardiologists to make visits to the southside. A walk-in immediate care center will be able to treat illnesses such as fever, cold and flu, complications from chronic illnesses such as diabetes or hypertension and minor injuries.
"We’ve not been on the southside before. It’s a new market, new territory. So hopefully we’re wrapping our arms around our patients here," said Rebecca Johnson, administrator for the St.Vincent Medical Group – Greenwood location. "We’re equipped to handle multiple situations and circumstances that people have. We can now meet a lot of the needs of the community."
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The medical center opened in a limited capacity in December, with Monica Porter, a nurse practitioner, seeing patients. Interest has been building, though, and the facility is now fully staffed, open and serving patients. The soft opening period also allowed St. Vincent to work out its partnership with OrthoIndy, located next door, and how the two entities would balance working together, Johnson said.
For St. Vincent officials, having a facility in the Johnson County area was vital to better serving the people who already use the health system, as well as to attract new customers in the region.
"We do have patients from this area, and we try to make things accessible for our patients. We don’t want to create the hardship. We want them to have access in their own community," Johnson said. "You can be seen right here in your own community, instead of traveling to Indianapolis or Carmel."
The new center is located less than a mile from the existing St. Vincent Neighborhood Hospital on Emerson Drive. The neighborhood hospital is a 24-hour emergency room, with the ability to admit patients and treat more serious conditions.
Having an immediate care center nearby to handle non-life threatening issues better covers people for all kinds of medical needs, Johnson said.
"The neighborhood hospital is for those in-patient needs. If you were having chest pains, you’d go there. They go beyond the fractured ankle or minor illnesses," she said. "What we’re not able to treat in primary care or immediate care, the neighborhood hospital is right there. It’s that networking here on the southside."
Within the medical center, people will find family medicine services for issues such as adult medical care, health prevention and dietary guidance, pediatric care and screening tests. Women’s health services, including gynecological exams, Pap tests, biopsies and family planning are also available.
Separate suites are dedicated to imaging, with ultrasounds, CT scans, X-rays and mammogram services.
The center was also built with what Johnson calls "time shares": available offices and examination rooms where specialists can rotate through and see patients at specified times during the week or month. For example, having a gynecological oncologist or a cardiologist who is available at certain times will save patients the trouble of having to get that specialized care elsewhere, she said.
"Those are the kinds of things that we can bring here so that we won’t have to refer out-of-network, or create more of a hardship by sending someone to the other side of the city," Johnson said.
With the new facility fully open and ready for patients, St. Vincent officials have attempted to reach out to the public to make them aware of what they can offer. A community day held on June 15 brought dozens of people in for tours and activities, and Johnson has been working with the Greenwood Chamber of Commerce and other groups to get integrated into the community.
"We’d like to see us grow and get integrated into the neighborhood. It’s not just about us being St. Vincent and coming to play, we want to be involved in the community and know what it is, what they need and then supply it if we can," Johnson said.
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St. Vincent Medical Group-Greenwood
Where: 1300 Innovation Parkway, Greenwood
Services offered:
- Primary care physicians
- Adolescent medicine
- Adult medical care, including high blood pressure and high cholesterol checks
- Health prevention and dietary guidance
- Pediatric well-child care and immunizations
- Physicals
- Screening tests
- Women’s health services, including gynecological exams, Pap tests, biopsies and family planning
- Immediate care center
- Imaging including X-rays, CT scans, mammography and ultrasounds
Primary care hours: Mon-Fri: 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday
Immediate care hours: 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday
Information: healthcare.ascension.org or call 317-879-4800
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