"In-airport medical center gets noticed through word of mouth"

Monday, March 19, 2007

In-airport medical center gets noticed through word of mouth
By Johnny Jackson
The Clayton (GA) News-Daily


Many infrequent travelers may not know about the state-of-the-art triage
center just above their heads as they walk through the Hartsfield-Jackson
Atlanta International Airport Atrium. 

Set in the R. L. Brown Jr. Grady Medical Center on the third floor of the
airport's atrium, the triage center is available to the untold millions who
use the airport for one reason or another. 

More than 60,000 airport employees and millions of others have access to the
medical center's triage, physical therapy, and radiology centers. 

"Overall, I think it's a great facility," said Dr. Wendy Wright, a family
practice physician at the center. 

She works as a part-time physician at one of the only in-airport medical
centers in the country. And she cares for a unique mixture of patients -
about 75 airport employees per day use the center, as well as a host of
airline passengers. 

"A lot of people get nauseated (on flights)," Wright said. "The hard
part...I think it's trying to assess the patients (with ailments) like
abdominal pains and trying to decide, do you send them to the ER or certify
them to fly?" 

The center operates as an urgent care facility, where patients can receive
treatment for injuries and get worker's compensation physicals,
prescriptions, referrals, X-rays, and various health screenings. 

"We do a lot of pre-employment physicals," said medical assistant Tiffany
Pless. "It's [also] convenient for a lot of travelers." 

Pless, who has worked at the center since it opened in October 2002, says
that fewer and fewer people are in the dark about the center. Word of mouth,
she says, has put the small urgent care medical center on the map. 

"I think overall, we have a very good reputation," said Rebecca Fitzgerald,
the center's worker's compensation manager. "Basically we're what a lot of
people call a one-stop shop." 

The center, open around the clock during the week, until 10 p.m. on
Saturdays and 8 a.m.-10 p.m. Sundays, is run by management company Atlanta
Primary Care in partnership with Grady Health System, which owns the
facilities.

"We have to do the different types of services without leaving," said Gary
Cobb, the center's chief operating officer. "We're specifically designed to
serve the airport community." 

The center, like some other businesses at Hartsfield-Jackson, is regulated
by the Federal Aviation Administration. 

"We're doing very well with the business that we have," Cobb said. "I think
that the services that we do are absolutely vital to the airport - to help
keep the airport functioning properly."

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