An urgent care clinic under construction in East Ellijay near Highway 515 will provide a medical resource currently unavailable here, noted the director of the Greater Gilmer Joint Development Authority as representatives from the Gilmer Chamber and JDA gathered in front of the new MainStreet Family Care location last week.
“We’re excited about this because it will fill a void for Gilmer County,” said JDA Executive Director Kent Sanford.
“Up until this point, our folks had to either go to Canton or Dawsonville for the nearest clinic. This will provide needed services for folks in the hours where they wouldn’t normally be able to go to their primary care physician. (They may) also avoid a trip to the emergency room, which might not be necessary, but, for a lot of folks, is better than the longer drive to Canton or Dawsonville.”
Alabama-based MainStreet Family Care plans to open the 3,200-square foot clinic, located in the Highlands shopping and dining area, in February.
“We are excited and grateful for the opportunity to serve Ellijay and its surrounding communities like New Hope and White Path,” said Sam Eskildsen, the company’s CEO. “Our hope is that offering patients the convenience of shorter wait times and same-day appointments with trained, certified providers will make health care accessible to everyone near Ellijay and the surrounding area.”
The walk-in facility will provide urgent and primary care services including treatment for everyday illnesses, diagnostic testing and an in-house pharmacy.
“(We will treat) cold, flu and allergies, (do) stitches and have an X-ray machine on site. We are going to be offering rapid COVID testing. We’ve also applied to get the COVID vaccine,” said Betsy Stewart, the company’s chief marketing officer.
Stewart said the company is based in Birmingham and has 17 clinics in Alabama. The East Ellijay location will be its fourth clinic to open in Georgia. Another clinic is under construction in Jasper, also just off Highway 515, she added.
“Jasper’s clinic will open about a week after this one. They’ve just started breaking ground there,” Stewart said.
The East Ellijay clinic will be open seven days a week, Stewart noted. It won’t be a 24-hour facility, but it will be open 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Friday, and 9 a.m.-4 p.m. on weekends, she added.