There’s good news for Black Friday shoppers planning to take advantage of deals in the Fairplain Plaza and Orchards Mall vicinity. Especially if they wear themselves to a frazzle finding the right gifts or can’t physically handle the load and end up with a back sprain, twisted ankle or something worse. MedExpress, the new urgent care center being built on the front lot of the Fairplain Plaza in Benton Harbor, is nearing completion and has targeted Black Friday as their opening day.
The new facility has been under construction since early August and contractors have been putting the finishing touches on in recent days. One of the job site bosses told me this week that the urgent care center will launch a soft opening the day after Thanksgiving.
His team of bulldozers made short work of the former home of Old National Bank on the front lot of the plaza, as they paved the way for the new MedExpress on that site. Demolition crews from Midwest Construction of Zeeland rapidly cleared the site to get things ready for their construction team at 1803 M-139 next to Aspen Dental.
As I first reported to you back in March, the former bank building was purchased by Fairplan NVO last winter. That’s a limited liability company based in Chagrin Falls, Ohio which will in turn lease the building to the doctors who are establishing the new MedExpress unit. Chain link fencing was erected around the entire perimeter of the site back in May, but the wrecking crew didn’t move in for the tear-down until the first week of August.
The new MedExpress is one of a dozen such facilities being planned for Michigan alone. The urgent care group already has facilities in more than 165 communities in 14 states across the nation, offering walk-in treatment for everyday illness and injury, including more advanced offerings such as X-rays, IVs, labs, minor surgery, stitches and treatment for broken bones, sprains and strains. Each center typically offers basic wellness and prevention services such as immunizations, flu shots, sports physicals and counseling for smokers looking to stop as well as employer health services including workers’ comp, injury care and pre-employment screenings.
Old National had just spent more than $45,000 on a makeover of the branch bank which had been obtained from Bank of America before the decision was made to close down a number of Old National branches in the system.
The new MedExpress Urgent Care center is just under 5,000 square feet with 56 parking spaces.
The Fairplain medical center is one of a dozen coming to Michigan, where there are already six others up and running. The existing centers are in Battle Creek, Jackson, Monroe, Muskegon, Port Huron and Portage. Those planned for construction are coming not only to Benton Harbor, but also to Detroit, Holland, Mount Clemens, New Baltimore, St. Clair Shores, and Ypsilanti, with another five targeted for the Grand Rapids market including in Jenison, Plainfield, Walker, Wyoming, and on 28th Street East.
MedExpress is staffed by a full medical team and is open 12-hours a day from 8am until 8pm with no appointment necessary and most insurance programs accepted. The company is headquartered in Morgantown, West Virginia. It is an Optum Company, a national leader in the delivery of high-quality, convenient, affordable healthcare in a patient-centric manner. The urgent care provider was founded 15 years ago on the foundation of Great Care. Fast.
Watch for official word of the opening, now targeted for Black Friday in Benton Charter Township.
