Southern Colorado urgent care centers sold to occupational medicine giant

Feb. 8--Occupational medicine giant Concentra has acquired the EmergiCare network of urgent care clinics in Colorado Springs and Pueblo to expand its services in southern Colorado.

"After nearly 38 years of owning and operating EmergiCare, I've decided to pass the torch of ownership," Dr. Robert Hamilton, EmergiCare's founder, president and chief medical officer, said in a Jan. 13 release. "It was important to select a partner that shares EmergiCare's values to carry on my legacy, and I have found that partner in Concentra."

Concentra has taken over operations of EmergiCare clinics at 402 W. Bijou St. and 4083 Austin Bluffs Parkway and merged a clinic at 402 W. Garden of the Gods Road with its nearby clinic at 5320 Mark Dabling Blvd., the Dallas-area company said in the release. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Concentra also operates a clinic at 2322 S. Academy Blvd. in southeast Colorado Springs as well as 19 in the Denver area and one in Fort Collins.

A Concentra spokeswoman said the former EmergiCare sites will continue to provide urgent care services. Concentra's centers also provide work injury care, physical therapy, drug testing, U.S. Department of Transportation physical exams, pre-placement exams and other employer-related health services. The company also provides telemedicine services for minor work injuries through its online system.

"Dr. Robert Hamilton has built an exceptional legacy in EmergiCare and we are honored to be trusted to continue that legacy," Dr. Okiki Louis, vice president of Concentra medical operations, said in the release. "Many EmergiCare clinicians are joining us to lead care delivery, and we are confident that we will continue to provide the same excellent health care that Colorado employers and their employees have come to expect."

Hamilton, who was director of emergency services at Parkview Hospital in Pueblo, started EmergiCare in 1982 as a quicker, cheaper, more convenient alternative to hospital emergency rooms. The first clinic opened in a former home on Austin Bluffs Parkway with a couple of part-time physicians and a $5,000 investment, with Hamilton working a second job to pay the bills.

OccuCenters started in Amarillo, Texas, in 1979, when three physicians opened an occupational health clinic, opening additional locations and merging in 1997 with CRA Managed Care to form Concentra. The merged company was taken private in 2001 and expanded into network services, bill review, case management, independent medical exams and preferred provider networks, but sold off most of those operations in 2006-07.

Concentra expanded into urgent care in 2007 and was sold to health insurance giant Humana for $790 million in 2010. Humana sold off Concentra for $1.06 billion in 2015 to a joint venture of Select Medical Holdings and the New York private equity firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe. Two years later, Select and Dignity Health merged Concentra with Digity's U.S. HealthWorks occupational medicine operation.

During the past two years, Concentra has acquired 12 other occupational medicine providers in eight states and now operates 520 occupational medicine and urgent care clinics in 44 states and 120 onsite clinics for employers and 32 outpatient community clinics.

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