New urgent care facility aims to close health care gap in Port Wentworth
According to longtime residents, Port Wentworth has never had an urgent care, making a new facility — focused on truck drivers, but open to anyone — the first of its kind.
Interstate Health, located on the Port Fuel Center property on Highway 21, offers urgent care, primary care, and occupational health care like DOT screenings and pre-employment physicals. Although anyone can come to the clinic, the idea for Interstate Health was born out of the gap of care for truck drivers.
"You have so many truck movements in the area, because of the port and all of the businesses around here, that we wanted to help the drivers, and we wanted to help the community," said Tim Campbell, the business development officer for Interstate Health. "It's hard for truck drivers to get continuous health care, so now there's a place where they can park, and come in and get their medical needs."
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Port Wentworth has had a boom in its population in the last decade, growing from around 5,000 to almost 12,000. residents From 2020 to 2021, the population gained 2,000 people.
To combat and prepare for the growth the massive Hyundai production facility in Bryan County is expected to bring, the city has also been working to bring other quality of life necessities, like public transportation. The city is also in the process of developing a strategy to improve the downtown area, which hasn't seen a new development in 50 years.
Jeana Wright, a resident of Port Wentworth since 2019, said that she thinks the new facility is definitely a start.
"The bottom line for me is that I do know that we need health care, and we need some type of facility," Wright said. "The city is growing and hopefully it'll grow more and we'll get more facilities."
The facility is open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday to Friday, with visits taking around 30 minutes. It accepts walk-ins and appointments.
Destini Ambus is the general assignment reporter for Chatham County municipalities for the Savannah Morning News. You can reach her at dambus@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Interstate Health urgent care in Port Wentworth open to truckers, residents
