St. Joseph Express Opens in College Station

St. Joseph Regional Health Center opened the doors its first College Station facility on Monday, Jan. 28, completing construction on a new urgent care center in less than four months.

Named St. Joseph Express, the 7,200 square-foot urgent care center will be open 7 days a week to provide urgent medical care for area residents. The center is located on the northbound access road of Highway 6 approximately .3 of a mile north of the intersection of William D. Fitch Parkway.

In an effort to provide convenient care, residents may walk in for urgent care without making an appointment, or call ahead to schedule a time to be seen. Initially two physicians will staff St. Joseph Express, with additional providers being added as the facility becomes busier and expands hours. Dr. Bob Howard, M.D., is the Medical Director of St. Joseph Express.

The facility has nine treatment and exam rooms, lab and imaging services, and is open extended evening and weekend hours. “This initial facility is designed to provide more convenient access to physicians whether you have an urgent medical need,” said Jon Turton, Vice President for Ambulatory Services for SJRHC.

St. Joseph Express will see patient with a variety of urgent medical needs, ranging from illnesses to minor injuries. They can do suturing of cuts and lacerations, as well as do casting of broken bones in the orthopedic rooms. The center can do school or employment physicals, as well as sports injuries and other urgent medical care. The clinic, which is open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays, and 1 to 5 p.m. on Sundays, may be reached by calling 731-5200.

St. Joseph Express is the startup phase of a new health campus to be developed by St. Joseph in College Station, stretching across almost 40 acres. Area physicians, developers and architects are working on the health services and design of the buildings that will be constructed during a major Phase I development of the campus, which set to kick off in the spring of 2008. That phase is expected to offer more than 30,000 square feet of clinical, diagnostic and surgical space, plus a wellness component focused on keeping residents healthy. A significant component in the campus development will be medical office space for physician offices. “We understand that most medical visits are to your doctor’s office and not to a hospital facility,” said St. Joseph Health System President and CEO Jack Buckley. “That’s why it is so important to develop a campus that provides plenty of top-quality office space for physicians.”

Although development plans are still in process, St. Joseph anticipates more than $50 million will be invested in developing the health campus in the next three years. With more than 16 health facilities located across the Brazos Valley, this development marks the first College Station health campus for St. Joseph Regional Health Center.

St. Joseph Regional Health Center, a member of St. Joseph Health System, has been providing health services to Brazos Valley residents since 1936, when the Sisters of St. Francis of Sylvania, Ohio purchased St. Joseph Hospital in Bryan.