Walk-in clinic may pop up in grocery

BY GAYLA SCHAEFER
FOR FLORIDA TODAY

Imagine walking into your neighborhood supermarket when you have an ear infection, and being able to speak with a nurse-practitioner who can advise you or point you toward the over-the-counter medicine aisle.

A new health care services company hopes to soon bring this convenience to Central Florida.

"The purpose of our walk-in clinics is to give people more choices in health care, so they don't have to take a half or full day off from work to see a doctor for a general health issue," said Bill Heineke, public relations representative for The Little Clinic.

According to Heineke, The Little Clinic LLC -- also known as TLC -- was founded in 2003, and is based in Louisville, Ky.

The company operates walk-in clinics staffed by health care providers at seven Kroger stores in Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky.

It hopes to open 50 new clinics in 2006, including locations in Florida.

According to Vicki McMahon, an advanced registered nurse-practitioner, Brevard County likely will be one of the new sites.

McMahon was hired in mid-December as the regional operations director for The Little Clinic's operations in Central Florida.

"We want to build networks with physicians and find collaborative physicians who understand we aren't trying to take their business away, but rather complement it," said McMahon, who moved to Brevard after receiving her nurse-practitioner's degree in 1999 in Pennsylvania.

While company representatives would not comment on partner retail locations in Florida until agreements are finalized, Heineke did note The Little Clinic is not affiliated with any major hospitals or health services in the area.

"My hope is that, eventually, once the program is established, the nurse-practitioners who see a particular patient will send a note to the individual's physician," McMahon said. "We want to build relationships and complement each other."

McMahon said, while physicians initially might see the clinics as competition, that is not what the company is trying to do.

"Our mission is to provide convenient, affordable, consumer-
focused heath care," The Little Clinic Chief Executive Officer Bruce Peacock said in a statement. "We see The Little Clinic complementing the existing health care system, offering an alternative for busy people who are often juggling jobs and families, and don't always have the option of scheduling a doctor's appointment, finding an urgent-care facility or waiting in a hospital emergency room."

According to the company Web site, The Little Clinic places its facilities in high-traffic retail outlets, making it convenient for customers to receive treatment, fill prescriptions and obtain over-the-counter treatments.

Clinics are staffed by board-certified nurse-practitioners.

"It is really an exciting new way for medicine," McMahon said.