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From the Maine Biz Blog
Urgent Care Centers Succeeding in Unexpected Places
When urgent care centers started to take hold across the United States, it was thought they would perform best in areas like the Midwest, where consumers are typically underserved by medical facilities. There simply wasn't as much direct competition there, and the hospitals in place in that area didn't tend to have the kinds of services that urgent care centers were offering. It made sense to establish these centers there and enjoy healthy customer bases.
But as the
urgent care model took off and found success, these businesses began to be established in other areas that were traditionally well served by hospitals and other medical facilities. What was surprising to many in the industry was to see how well urgent care entries performed in these areas.
Now the Northwest is seeing nearly as many urgent care centers as everywhere else, and the centers there are thriving. That's because these centers do more than just offer the same services that can be found at a hospital. They are designed to treat customers faster and offer more affordable rates than hospitals provide. While hospitals work hard to keep up with the new competition, sometimes even offering up similar services of their own, urgent care centers continue to show great growth as a business model.
It seems like there is no place that a good urgent care center cannot succeed. There is certainly some fear of oversaturation in some places, but for the most part, that hasn't happened yet. Because this is a relatively new business model, there are still plenty of untapped areas that could benefit from the addition of an urgent care center. It's only going to be a few years from now that they will reach their peak capacity and new urgent care centers will not be as viable an option for savvy entrepreneurs.
What comes next after full saturation has been reached is likely franchising. The urgent care centers that exist are going to band together and become part of a larger whole. This will make them stronger and allow them to be more financially stable. It will likely be some time before franchising becomes widespread, but that's only because urgent care centers are doing so well in locations all over the United States. Their success has been unprecedented, which is why it is still taking some investors some time to catch up with the potential they offer as a business model.
Read Port City Life to stay informed about issues that affect you. Learn about fun places to go, great things to do or buy, and cool people to see. Celebrate Maine life with Port City Life.
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