ASHLAND, Mo. - University of Missouri Health Care, which recently announced intentions to sell shares of the Fulton Medical Center and operations, opened a new family medicine clinic in Ashland Monday.
MU Health owned 35 percent of the Fulton Medical Center, and NueHealth, which owns the rest, has announced plans to close the facility by Sept. 22.
The new 3,790 square-foot clinic is in the Redtail Professional Building, 101 Redtail Drive, Suite C. It features seven exam rooms and a lab for testing.
"Family medicine is centered on lasting relationships between patients, their families and the physicians who provide their care," said Steven Zweig, MD, MSPH, a family medicine physician at MU Health Care and Professor and Jack and Winifred Colwill Endowed Chair of the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the MU School of Medicine. "As family medicine providers, we take care of patients throughout the continuum of life. It's these lasting relationships forged in trust and knowledge that allow us as physicians to provide the best care to each patient."
Luke Stephens, MD, MSPH, an MU family and community medicine physician, leads a team of providers at the clinic that includes a nurse practitioner, a licensed practical nurse and a patient service representative.
Stephens is board-certified in family and community medicine and primary care sports medicine. He previously served as a family medicine and sports medicine physician at Advocate Illinois Masonic Hospital and Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Chicago.
"I and my colleagues know that access to primary care can help us live longer, feel better and avoid disability and long absences from work," Stephens said. "Our focus as family medicine providers is patient-centered care with improved access, especially in our rural communities."