Dr. Lee Resnick is the chief medical officer and chief operating officer of WellStreet Urgent Care, a client of Hartman Simons that opened its first facility two weeks ago in Peachtree Square in south Buckhead. We recently got a chance to chat with Resnick about the company’s growth plans, its operating philosophy and his medical career.
You just opened the first WellStreet Urgent Care site. When will you be opening others and where will they be?
By the end of 2012, we will have opened 12 of our urgent care centers. They will be all across the metro Atlanta area. In 2013, we will begin to explore other markets. We will look at secondary markets in Georgia, and we’re also open to looking at other metropolitan areas across the nation.
What is the operating philosophy and strategy of WellStreet?
Urgent care is an impulse decision: someone gets sick or gets injured – maybe Johnny breaks his leg sliding into second base – and all of a sudden you’re faced with, “Where do we go? What do we do?”
We want to be the brand that is people’s first thought in those situations. By locating in Class A real estate – properties that have high visibility and high traffic counts – we create a high profile in our communities and will be top of mind when those times come. We want to create an easy option and provide patients with the path of least resistance.
Once they are there, we will provide clinical care that is second to none. Our facilities foster an environment of care. They feature wide hallways, warm colors, spacious waiting rooms, coffee and tea. In an environment like this, patients feel more comfortable, and it becomes easier for them to talk with our doctors and to tell them more information, which in turns helps our physicians.
To ensure the best quality of care, we hire the best talent and put them through a 66-hour urgent-care training program.
You have long been at the forefront of improving the quality of urgent care throughout the country. Fill our readers in on your medical career and your background on the issue of urgent care.
I am board-certified in family medicine and an assistant clinical professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland. I have spent the past decade in various urgent-care leadership roles.
I’m the founder and president of the Institute of Urgent Care Medicine, which specializes in the development of continuing education programs for urgent-care medicine. I’m also a founding board member and the past president of the Urgent Care Association of America.
Additionally, I’m a founding board member of both the Urgent Care College of Physicians and the Urgent Care Foundation, and I serve as the editor of The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine.
How do you enjoy spending your time when you’re not working?
When am I not working? (laughs) I really enjoy traveling with my family. My wife Stephanie and I have two children: a 13-year-old daughter named Paige and an 11-year-old son named Ian.
I’ve had speaking engagements all over the world, and I’ve usually been able to take my family with me, which has provided us with some wonderful opportunities to be together and experience places like New Zealand and Ireland. It’s been a lot of fun.