ROCKBRIDGE COUNTY, Va. – For people in and around Rockbridge County, Carilion’s newest urgent care center, just off Interstate 81 in Raphine, is much needed.
“This is the result of the community saying, ‘We need urgent care.’ We wanted to serve the community, so we’re proud to be opening," Carilion Stonewall Jackson Memorial Hospital Vice President Greg Madsen said.
Carilion went one step further and located the center next to White’s Travel Center to serve truck drivers and the traveling community, as well as people who live nearby.
“This is one of the busiest truck stops in the country, and many of the truckers come through on a very regular basis," Madsen said.
The travel center helped secure the money needed for the urgent care center and worked with Carilion to come up with a design.
The center has multiple exam rooms, an X-ray room and a lab and is directly connected to a 4,400-square-foot pharmacy next door.
“There’ll be physicians on-site, nurse practitioners, midlevel practitioners,” Madsen explained.
Carilion Community and Family Medicine Vice President Kim Roe expects the urgent care center to be well received.
“One of the nice things we do at VelocityCare (urgent care centers) is, if people need extended care or they need referrals back to any kind of specialty, no matter if it’s Carilion or somewhere else, we help facilitate that,” Roe said.
Walking through the center Wednesday, she said it's beautiful.
"It's nice to see this come to fruition," Roe said.
The center opens Thursday, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday.