UPMC, GoHealth partner to run 81 urgent-care clinics in Pa., W.Va.

UPMC and MedExpress clinics recently got a makeover and a new name — UPMC-GoHealth Urgent Care — but services are staying mostly the same.

In October, UPMC and national chain GoHealth Urgent Care partnered to rebrand and renovate 80 clinics across Pennsylvania and West Virginia, including 33 in the Pittsburgh area. They have also opened a new clinic in Waynesburg, Greene County.

The new and refreshed clinics are being formally unveiled starting this week. There are six locations in Westmoreland County — Jeannette, North Huntingdon, Latrobe, Mt. Pleasant, Murrysville and Greensburg — as well as one in Monroeville. Clinics in the Alle-Kiski Valley can be found in Harrison, Monroeville, O’Hara and Tarentum.

UPMC-GoHealth clinics treat a wide array of low-level conditions, like allergies, rashes, sprains and even minor fractures. Patients can also access some vaccines, including the flu shot, as well as laboratory testing for mono, strep throat and other common diseases.

“It’s when you need care that’s timely, where you cannot wait for an appointment, for things that are more mild and non-life threatening,” said Richard Wadas, vice president of ambulatory and community services for UPMC.

He urged people to go to an emergency room or call 911 if they’re experiencing more severe symptoms, such as numbness in an extremity, shortness of breath, chest pain or acute abdominal pain.

UPMC-GoHealth clinics accept most insurance plans. This includes Medicare and Medicaid as well as Highmark and, of course, UPMC Health Plan.

A majority of UPMC-GoHealth locations are in rural or suburban areas, according to Amy Meister, president of community and ambulatory services for UPMC, and around a quarter of those in Pennsylvania are “the best if not the only” care option for the surrounding community.

The partnership has led to the closure of 12 formerly competing clinics, Meister said. In Pittsburgh’s Bloomfield neighborhood, for example, the MedExpress was turned into a UPMC-GoHealth clinic, but UPMC urgent care across the street was shut down.

The empty buildings will be repurposed as UPMC facilities.

Robert Malizia, GoHealth’s Mid-Atlantic president, said one immediate improvement is the use of mobile-friendly check-in tools that allow patients to handle pre-visit paperwork before they arrive at the clinic.

He also suggested more UPMC-GoHealth clinics could be on the way, with a focus on areas that are underserved or have been marked as strategically important by UPMC.