CARBONDALE - When Marian Community Hospital closed in late February, Upvalley residents had no other options for immediate care between Honesdale and Scranton.
Helping fill health care needs in the area, Pioneer City Urgent Care, a seven-day-a-week clinic, has opened to treat anything from bronchitis to earaches and bone fractures.
"Having an urgent-care clinic in our city is vitally important to our residents and the surrounding area," said Carbondale Mayor Justin Taylor, a former emergency medical technician. "This is really the first line of defense with anyone with a medical situation."
Jaime A. Cook, R.N., practice manager for the clinic and a registered nurse, said people should consider the new facility instead of driving out of the area for medical assistance.
"We're going to be able to fill in the holes and gaps that the hospital closing provided," said Mrs. Cook.
Owned by two physicians and two chiropractors, the Carbondale clinic opened this month and is modeled after the Lake Region Urgent Care clinic in Hawley, also owned by the two physicians.
Described as an alternative to the emergency room or an option when someone's primary physician isn't available, Pioneer City Urgent Care provides X-ray and laboratory services. Joseph Soliman, M.D., a co-owner of the clinic who works there part time, said the facility offers convenience of location when people need quick medical help.
"People can come in and we see them right away," Dr. Soliman said.
While the clinic serves people now that Marian Hospital closed after years of financial struggles, Mr. Taylor would still like a hospital to serve the area. However, he and other community leaders haven't found interested parties ready to open an acute-care hospital in a small market.
The property where Marian Hospital was located could be marketed as a suitable site for an educational facility or corporate center, Mr. Taylor said.
As for the new urgent-care clinic, it has helped provide more than health care. Mrs. Cook said the clinic has added about 10 jobs, keeping familiar faces in the area.
Registered nurse Krista Smith worked at Marian for 20 years until it closed. Now a staff nurse at Pioneer City Urgent Care, she sees some of the same patients she saw while working at the hospital.
"I recognize many of the people who come in here," Ms. Smith said.
Contact the writer: rward@timesshamrock.com, @rwardTT on Twitter