New urgent care center finally opens its doors on Broadway

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It already has more than 200 locations across 26 states, but American Family Care didn’t have to look far to open its newest urgent care facility. The “one-stop shop” officially opened its doors at 5546 Broadway just after Veterans Day, providing veterans with free flu shots.

The facility also made contributions to the local posts of the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars.

Dan Purugganan, AFC’s managing director, said the decision to pay tribute to veterans was inspired by Benjamin Barlow, the company’s chief medical officer, an Air Force veteran who felt the gesture was in line with the company’s overall brand.

“We view ourselves as somewhat of an American company providing quality medical service that we certainly would like to take the opportunity to honor our veterans,” Purugganan said.

AFC chose Kingsbridge in late 2016 to join other urgent care facilities already in the neighborhood like CityMD Urgent Care on West 237th Street, and Metro Urgicare on Riverdale Avenue. A step between a traditional doctor’s office and an emergency room, urgent care facilities provide an alternative for patients who need more immediate help, but not necessarily the full resources of a hospital.

“We wanted to offer the community a walk-in clinic that is convenient on both time and location so it would be easier for everyone — whether it’s for kids or adults — to see a medical provider,” Purugganan said.

The clinic is open every day, accepting patients up until 10 p.m., on weekdays. Urgent care facilities have become more popular for Americans in recent years, according to a new study from the JAMA Internal Medicine journal, which found patient growth more than doubled for at such facilities from people holding commercial insurance between 2008 and 2015. At the same time, emergency room visits for non-life-threatening conditions decreased 36 percent.

Back at AFC, Purugganan notes there has been a positive reaction from those who have visited the facility so far.

“The first wave of patients that we’ve seen are very nice folks,” he said. “They’re all very happy that we’ve come to the neighborhood.”

And Purugganan’s overall impression of Kingsbridge has been a good one.

“What’s striking is when I look at that community, it’s a very vibrant community and a very close-knit community, which you don’t necessarily get in other parts of the Bronx,” he said. “So it’s nice to get a feel for that.”

As Purugganan and the team at AFC continue to settle into Kingsbridge, he hopes that the location finds more ways to be involved to support the community.

This is AFC’s fourth location in the Bronx, with others located in Melrose, Claremont Village and Throgs Neck.

American Family Care, AFC Urgent Care, Dan Purugganan, Benjamin Barlow, CityMD Urgent Care, Metro Urgicare, JAMA Internal Medicine journal, Tiffany Moustakas

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