Major Madison project close to completion
The growth of Mississippi-based walk-in urgent care company TrustCare continues.
Three separate TrustCare clinics in one location are planned in Madison at the former Rite-Aid Pharmacy at U.S. 51 and Madison Avenue, which is now under construction and is expected to be finished by the end of the summer.
That facility will include a children's clinic, as well as a primary clinic and an adult urgent care clinic.
TrustCare has 11 locations in Mississippi, most of which are in the Jackson metro area, with the latest being a TrustCare Kids along U.S. 80 in Brandon which opened in November 2023 adjacent to another TrustCare clinic in Brandon. The two outside the metro area are urgent care facilities in Hattesburg and Laurel.
TrustCare also added a primary care clinic in Ridgeland in The Township in 2023 with Dr. Kristi Trimm leading as a primary care physician there. However, Trimm will be moving to the new location in Madison this summer. A new leader in Ridgeland has not yet been announced.
Last year, however, TrustCare closed three locations in Alabama.
TrustCare President and CEO Warren Herring said the business model for the Alabama market just was not working.
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"Sometimes you go into certain markets and the economics don't make sense and you back out of it," Herring said. "We just decided to stop investing over there, and pull that investment and invest that money in Mississippi."
The locations closed in Alabama included one on Montclair Road in Mountain Brook, one on Montgomery Highway in Vestavia Hills, and one on Crosshaven Drive in Cahaba Heights, all of which had been opened in the last three years.
"We are growing. We are not shrinking," Herring said. "So, while we are pulling back in Alabama, we are continuing to add in Mississippi. That was our main mission when we started and it's our main mission now."
Herring founded the company in 2012, which began by specializing in urgent care, but has expanded. All of the walk-in urgent care clinics are staffed with board-certified local physicians and nurse practitioners. The clinics operate 361 days per year.
Herring, 40, is also a member of the Jackson Municipal Airport Authority. He was appointed to that position in August 2022.
'Just what Madison needs'
Madison Mayor Mary Hawks Butler said the new Trustcare will be a shot in the arm for Madison since Rit eAid left that location.
While Rite Aid currently has more than 1,700 stores in 16 states, it has more than 600 stores since filing for Chapter 11 protection from creditors in October 2023.
The Madison location was closed more than two years ago, leaving the major intersection in town vacant. There are no longer any Rite Aids in Mississippi, according to the Rite Aide wesbsite.
"That is a major corner in our city, and once all of the construction is completed, it will be exactly what fits the Madison mold," Butler said. "With the current situation with Rite Aid closing stores across the country, we were looking for the perfect fit."
She said the city negotiated with representatives of the property owners to try and get something done, but that it took longer than expected.
"Sometimes things take a while, but we don't quit and we are excited about the new project," Hawkins Butler said.
The project is directly across the street from another new Madison project that Bridgeforth Rutledge put together.
Rutledge revamped and expanded the old Walgreens building into a multi-tenant building and all six spaces in the building have been leased.
He also added additional parking and access on 12 acres of additional property to the west and north. Rutledge purchased a portion of the Take 5 Oil Change property a few hundred yards north on U.S. 51 and constructed a new thoroughfare that leads from U.S. 51 to the old Walgreens shopping center development, providing alternative access and future development opportunities along the new access road.
Ross Reily can be reached by email at rreily@gannett.com or 601-573-2952. You can follow him on Twitter @GreenOkra1.
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Madison MS TrustCare construction nearly complete
