Paul Leavy/The Valdosta Daily Times

VALDOSTA — You won’t need health insurance at the city’s new walk-in medical clinic. That’s because these folks don’t take insurance.

The founders of Express Care Medical Clinic at 1514 Harmon Drive decided to try to meet the needs of the area’s burdensome population who don’t have health insurance by opening a primary care center that is “affordable,” according to Paul McGlynn, the clinic’s senior physician assistant.

At Express Care, which is located in the red brick house at the corner of Harmon and North St. Augustine Road across the street from Steak and Shake, a mere $60 will get you in the door to see some very capable, experienced doctors.

And if any potential other charges might arise, the Express Care staff will clear those with you before they order any extra tests, lab work or other treatment, McGlynn said.

“Why charge $80 or $90 or $100 to just come in and get a bunch of prescriptions,” the happily animated McGlynn noted. “How much money would you have left after paying your co-pay on insurance? Not much if any. Here, we will stay within $5 to $15 of what your average co-pay would be.”

The Express Care is staffed by McGlynn, who has 28 years of experience in the medical field, plus medical director Dr. Susan Harding and staff physician Felix Valdez. They decided to go with a “no insurance” program because the Lowndes County area needs it, McGlynn said.

“I would estimate that more than 50 percent of the population of Lowndes County has no health insurance coverage,” he said. “We saw the need and are determined to meet it. Our mission is to provide affordable, convenient, basic healthcare.”

Basically, if you are sick or have a cut or a bump or bruise or a cold and do not need to go to the emergency room (ER), the walk-in clinic is the right scenario for you. And Express Care is the right clinic if you don’t have insurance, McGlynn said.

They do take patients who have insurance, but don’t whip out your insurance card. They won’t take it. They do not bill insurance companies or try to work through that quagmire. You’ll be charged just like a non-insured patient on the clinic’s affordable scale, and you can pay with cash, debit, credit card or local check, McGlynn explained.

“Once you pay for the office visit, that’s it,” he said. “If you’re here and there’s a question of blood sugar or you need a urinalysis, those would be included in the office visit. If you need something more and it would require a fee, we wouldn’t do it until we’ve explained it to you and told you how much it would cost. You won’t get blindsided here. And we have physicians on staff who can make referrals if you require a specialist or other physician to continue or enhance your treatment. I’ll work my darndest to find the most affordable solution.”

McGlynn, who hails from Youngstown, Ohio, has worked in everything from small 20-room hospitals to Level I trauma centers in New York and Boston. He first came in contact with the “walk-in” clinic type operation in Ohio 18 years ago and has worked in such clinics during the past 28 years, six of those in another area clinic.

“The walk-in concept came about when ERs were getting overwhelmed with patients suffering from minor illnesses and non-emergency situations,” he said. “We’re going to do a lot more than most walk-in clinics, though, with Express Care. We’ve got so much experience on staff that we can really make this a place to come for so many things.”

If you need routine treatment for diabetes, high blood pressure checks, minor surgery, bumps, bruises or lacerations, the clinic can handle it. They also provide holistic medicine and prevention and wellness programs, weight loss programs, B-12 supplements, drug and alcohol testing, and physicals for industrial, school or sports requirements, McGlynn said.

The staff are trained to welcome everyone from the person who collects garbage to college professors or the wealthy, but McGlynn takes pride in the clinic’s comfortable atmosphere for blue collar workers and the working class, many of whom do not have health care insurance.

“Since we opened approximately two weeks ago, this place is very patient and practitioner friendly. We’ve worked hard to make it so,” he said.

McGlynn boasts of a wide and varied medical career. He’s working to pass his exam to become an M.D., which he says won’t add much to his current capabilities.

“The only thing I’ll be able to do when I pass the exam and get the title that I cannot do now as a physician assistant (PA) is bill insurance and Medicare, which we won’t be doing anyway,” he said. “But the education aspect of it is very important.”

McGlynn said he finished his undergraduate degree at Youngstown State University, earned a Medical Science (PA) degree at Alderson Broaddus College in West Virginia, and earned his medical degree at the University of Santiago in the Dominican Republic. He claims work at the Boston City Hospital at a Level I trauma center and says he also did clinical nutrition work there. He also worked at a Level I trauma center in New York City.

“I’ve done everything from set broken bones to deliver babies and just about everything in-between,” he said. “I am board certified and my peers treat me as an equal. But besides my experience, I think my best attribute is knowing what I can do and what I can’t do.”

One patient on hand during McGlynn’s interview with The Times raved about the PA’s bedside manner and knowledge.

“He is a very caring doctor,” said Barbara Pollack of Valdosta. “He really listens to you. He explains things to you. He doesn’t just run in and run out like so many doctors do.”

Joby Jolly, the clinic’s administrative assistant who might be the first person a patient meets upon arriving in the front lobby, backed up McGlynn’s promise of honest business.

“If you call, we will tell you right up front that the office visit is $60 and if anything else is needed, there may be other charges but that you will be made aware of before we do anything,” Jolly said.

(The clinic’s medical director and staff physician weren’t present or available for an interview in time for this report.)

Express Care is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and can be reached at 229-242-9993. Plans are to open up for extended evening hours on one weekday a week once business builds up, and they’ll add more staff when the demand is there. Counting McGlynn and his wife who manages the office, Jolly and the two staff doctors, the clinic has five employees.

Asked what drew an Ohioan to the South, McGlynn explained: “Everyone has found out that the southeast is a great place to live. And after working so many years at large institutions, hospitals and universities, it’s great to live in a place like Valdosta where there are such great people and such a great quality of life here. It makes me happy to be able to live out a mission to help care for such good people.”