RapidCare coming

Walk-in clinic to open in Minot

By KATINA TENGESDAL, Staff Writer ktengesdal@minotdailynews.com
Dr. Rodney Lee, of RapidCare urgent and walk-in clinics, will open a new clinic in Minot this fall. The clinic will be located off U.S. Highway 83 in front of  Wal-Mart and just south of the Pour Farm, and will be open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day of the week.


“The main goal of the clinics is convenience and accessibility, with short waiting times. Most people, if they need to be seen on a particular day, either can’t get in to their doctor, or they don’t want to wait in an emergency room and pay higher co-pays,” Lee said.


Lee said the goal of his clinics is not to take patients away from their primary doctor, but to offer another accessible option for patients. Lee believes the need for such clinics is growing in most areas.


“I could throw a dart almost anywhere on a map and it (a walk-in clinic) would be needed, and it would be utilized well – anywhere from simple things, such as needing a sports physical on a Sunday night, to having an anxiety about something, to a patient who broke their arm,” Lee added.


The clinic in Minot will be approximately 4,000 square feet, with four to five exam rooms. It will be staffed by one healthcare professional at all times, and providers will be physicians, nurse practitioners, or physician assistants. The clinic will be looking to hire local providers who want an independent employment situation.


Lee said the clinic will accept all insurance companies.


Patients who visit the clinic and need additional care can easily be referred to specialists, he added.


“One of the advantages of being an independent walk-in clinic is that when a patient needs a referral to a specialist, we can get them to that destination quickly because of not being confined to one institutional umbrella,” Lee said.


Lee first opened a clinic in 2002 in Fargo, then branched out to Moorhead, Minn., in 2005. Due to the succes of his first clinics, he decided to open more.


“Since the day the door opened, there’s been a steady flow of patients all day, every day. When it got to a certain point of business, I opened another one. I didn’t want it to get too busy, because the goal is convenience and accessibility,” Lee said.


Last fall, he added another clinic in southwest Fargo, and in January added clinics in Grand Forks and Detroit Lakes, Minn. His current building plans for this summer include clinics in Minot, Williston, Aberdeen, S.D.,  and Bemidji and possibly Alexandria in Minnesota. He also plans to start some clinics in Phoenix.


“What I’m doing right now is not so unique in itself, but some of the uniqueness is in how we do things and some of the locations we select. We minimize the number of pitstops from when the patient enters the door to when they see the doctor. We keep things simple and effective,” Lee said.