Fast Pace Health gets city’s OK for Rocky Top urgent-care clinic
Franklin, Tennessee-based Fast Pace Health will spend $550,000 to build a 3,600-square-foot urgent-care medical clinic in Rocky Top, according to a building permit the city has approved for the company.
The company’s plans for the new clinic, at 510-514 N. Main St., were approved by the city Planning Commission during its June 15 meeting, and City Council members were informed of the decision during their regular meeting Thursday, June 17.
City Manager Michael Foster said Monday that the building permit has been issued, but that it has not yet been picked up by Fast Pace officials.
Foster said the developer is listed on the documents as JMB ST Investment Co. LLC, and the contractor as Raven Construction of Knoxville.
During Thursday’s council meeting, Foster said the company plans to start construction within the next few weeks, and could have the clinic open within about six months.
The plan is to construct the building on a vacant lot across North Main Street from Glenn’s Pizza, next door to a motel and Mexican restaurant.
The site now is owned by Vanguard Investment Properties Inc. of Jacksboro, which bought it in 2009, according to Anderson County property records.
That lot, measuring just under an acre, has been vacant since probably the 1990s, Foster said. There is still a building foundation on the lot, but the structure has long been gone, he added. It previously housed a gas station and later a restaurant.
It will be the first medical clinic in Rocky Top in at least two years, Foster said. A previous Covenant Health clinic and physicians’ offices on South Main Street closed about two years ago.
“We’re excited to see it come in,” Foster said earlier. “They seem to have a good reputation. The Fast Pace in Clinton always seems to stay busy.”
According to its website (fastpacehealth.com), the company has 141 clinics in Tennessee, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi and Indiana.
The clinics are open seven days a week, require no appointments, and accept most major health insurance plans, the website notes.
“Fast Pace Health’s ‘patient first’ mentality has guided its mission to provide convenient and compassionate care to the communities it serves,” the website says.
“Since 2009, Fast Pace Health has grown from one clinic in Collinwood, TN to clinics throughout Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi, Louisiana and Indiana, with plans for future expansion.”
The website also notes that “Fast Pace Health clinics provide treatments for a wide range of illnesses, injuries, and common conditions and provide a variety of wellness, diagnostic, and screening services. …
“Fast Pace Health offers patients the convenience of short wait times, daily urgent care services, and the ability to be seen by a primary care provider without an appointment.”
Besides accepting insurance, the clinics offer “affordable self-pay prices for uninsured patients,” and “Each Fast Pace Health clinic features multiple exam rooms, on-site lab testing, and X-ray capabilities,” the website explains.
The company says its vision is to “change the delivery of health care in rural areas by integrating excellent patient care, education, accessibility [and] community service in a way that puts the patient’s needs first and improves the health status of our communities