As the former director of a hospital emergency department, Dr. David Stilley has seen firsthand the large number of people who seek medical care after family practice offices are closed. It was with that in mind that he helped launch a new medical clinic.

A few weeks ago, Stilley opened DoctorsNow Walk-in Care L.C. in Johnston, a clinic with extended hours for people who need urgent care. Stilley said the clinic gives people an alternative to making trips to hospital emergency rooms, retail-based quick clinics or other urgent care centers. His office handles minor injuries and illnesses.

“Hospital urgent care centers are very busy, with waiting times as long as two to three hours sometimes,” Stilley said. “We can see patients for basically anything short of a medical emergency, with minimal wait time.”

Like the retail-based quick clinics that are quickly spreading across the country and now starting to open in Des Moines, DoctorsNow’s primary audience is busy families.

“When you have two parents who work, it can be hard to get your child to the doctor or to get an appointment time on short notice when your daycare calls and says your child is running a fever,” Stilley said.

Also, as is the case with urgent care centers and retail-based clinics, DoctorsNow operates on a walk-in basis and offers evening and weekend hours. The office is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. on Sunday.

But what sets DoctorsNow apart is how the office is staffed. Stilley and a second physician, Brent Liebert, are based at the office, along with a nurse practitioner, Maria Pringle. By comparison, retail-based quick clinics are traditionally run by nurse practitioners.

“We think that many people want to be in a traditional doctor’s office to see a physician,” Stilley said. “That’s what people are generally used to, and they may not feel comfortable with the concept of medicine by a nurse practitioner.”

The building where DoctorsNow is based is located at 5731 Greendale Road in Johnston, near the Hy-Vee store on Merle Hay Road. It had   been used as a doctor’s office previously, which made it well-suited to this business.

The office has two procedure rooms, nine exam rooms, an X-ray machine and a small pharmacy stocked with common medications. Having some medications on site should save patients the hassle of having to make an extra stop elsewhere after their visits to fill prescriptions, Stilley said.

Another time-saving measure that the clinic offers is online registration where new patients can fill out   their paperwork online prior to   their arrival.

“With our higher staffing levels, online registration and pharmacy we are hoping to reduce the wait time for our patients,” Stilley said.

Before opening DoctorsNow, Stilley worked for 12 years as the medical director of the emergency department at Mercy Medical Center – Des Moines. After he left that job, Tim Slimpot, who now serves as the chief financial officer for DoctorsNow, approached Stilley with his idea for the business.

Stilley liked the concept and the opportunity to apply his master of business administration degree, which he completed a couple of years ago. Stilley said there are about a dozen investors in the clinic.

Although DoctorsNow just recently become operational, there are already plans to open additional offices. A second office is expected to open in July near Prairie Life Fitness Center on 50th Street in West Des Moines. Lease negotiations are under way for a third location, which is expected to open by the end of the year.

“We do not intend to take patients away from other doctors,” Stilley said. “Our goal is to be here to help serve the other physicians when they have heavy loads or their patients need another option for care. We plan to communicate back to physicians with reports on every patient we see.”