ArchWell Health celebrated the opening of its clinic in Brentwood with an open house and ribbon-cutting July 29.
The facility is at 5000-4 Norwood Ave., across from Guardian Catholic School near Norwood Avenue and West 44th Street, an area that ArchWell founder and CEO Carl Whitmer said was conducive to the company’s specialty of providing primary healthcare to underserved patients 60 and older who have Medicare Advantage coverage.
Dr. James Porcelli, medical director for the Jacksonville market, said ArchWell serves neighborhoods that “are really deficient of good, quality medical care.”
“Patients have been neglected,” he said. “They tend to live their life going in and out of the hospital. We focus on these areas where we can make an impact and a difference in their lives, and try to help them achieve a healthier lifestyle.”
Staff at the Norwood Avenue clinic have been seeing patients since May after a soft opening that month.
ArchWell works on a value-based care model in contrast to the more traditional fee-for-service model.
In a fee-for-service model, providers bill patients on a per-service or per-procedure basis. Value-based care services are billed depending on patient outcomes, equity and cost of care, according to the American Medical Association.
ArchWell Health members are encouraged to come in every six to eight weeks, allowing staff to track progress and raise awareness of living a healthy lifestyle.
The company also provides a social aspect to care, offering scheduled games and craft projects. Members are invited to drop by unannounced for coffee or to meet with others for activities and discussions. This service is aimed at those who have lost a spouse or have few remaining friends.
ArchWell Health calls its clients “members” rather than “patients,” Porcelli said. This takes the emphasis off an illness and emphasizes that they are a member of a group seeking a healthier lifestyle.
ArchWell’s clinics are staffed by board-certified physicians and medical staff. Offices are open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday with 24-hour access to doctors on duty via telephone.
Formed in 2021 and based in Nashville, Tennessee, the company operates in 12 states: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Kansas, Missouri, North Carolina, Nevada, Nebraska, Ohio and Oklahoma.
It has six clinics in Northeast Florida and a total of 21 in the state.
The area ArchWell Health facilities are at:
• 1072 Arlington Road N., north of the Arlington Expressway
• 7628 103rd St. in Oak Hill Village in West/Northwest Jacksonville
• 5930 Normandy Blvd. in Westside Plaza
• 311 Blanding Blvd., Suite 4, in Blanding Plaza in Orange Park
• 4750 Soutel Drive, Unit 10, in the Harborview area, east of New Kings Road and south of Interstate 295.
• 5000-4 Norwood Ave. in Gateway Town Center in Brentwood.
Whitmer, who attended the open house, said there were no plans to open another clinic in Jacksonville but didn’t rule out the possibiity of further expansion in the area.
“We’ll run a year or two and see how things are going,” he said. “If I think things are going to go extremely well, we’ll make a decision.”
The 14,000-square-foot medical facility cost $3.5 million to $4 million, Whitmer said. It offers primary care services including an in-house lab, retinopathy diabetic screening, 24-hour telehealth, preventive health screenings, vaccinations and nutrition education.
ArchWell Health does not charge members for its services. Copays are dependent upon the Medicare Advantage coverage the member carries.
Porcelli said the personal attention members are given is the primary advantage ArchWell offers.
“In the fee-for-service world, doctors have a big panel and they usually see a lot of members per day because that’s how they make their revenue,” he said. “They’ll see maybe 20 to 30, sometimes 40 patients a day.
“Here at ArchWell, we keep the census low. We see 12 to 14 patients a day because we want to make sure we give every member enough time. We always allow more time per visit than the average practice in fee-for-service world.”