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 The
offices are headed up by Dr. Paul Toofan with two in-house physician
assistants Matt Woodruff and Brennan Malham. There are two e-Ray
technicians on staff Makayla Meaker and Mikeala Monday. Caitlin Hupp
and Stephanie Bacon are at the front desk meeting clients as they
come in to see the doctor. And Kara Hitchings serves as the office’s
manager.
The building is set up with a large waiting area for
patients, a number of exam rooms, and an on-site x-ray machine.
Dr. Toofan is an experienced medical professional who worked for 12
years as an emergency room doctor before starting his first urgent
care in 2014. Since that time, he has started five such medical
services including the new office in Lincoln. Other locations where
Dr. Toofan has opened offices include Decatur/Forsyth, Effingham,
Litchfield, and Taylorville.
Talking about how urgent care fits into the medical
community, Dr. Toofan said it should be made clear to the public
that urgent care is not meant to be a replacement for the family
physician or ones Primary Care Physician. Nor is it meant to or
equipped to replace the hospital emergency room.
Urgent Care is offered as a walk-in option for a variety of
situations but mostly when the primary care physician cannot work
another patient into the schedule on a moment’s notice. If a child
has a fever and is not feeling well for example, a visit to the
urgent care can get that little one the attention needed much more
quickly. At the same time, that visit should be followed by a visit
to the child’s pediatrician as it would be if the patient were taken
to the emergency room. Or, if you find out today that your youngster
has to have a physical to participate in school sports, and that it
must be turned in tomorrow, Dr. Toofan’s office is open in the
evening, and can do that physical in no time at all.
He also stressed that urgent care should never be the first choice
if a person is believed to be experiencing a life-threatening
situation such as a heart attack or stroke. Someone in that
situation should call 911 and get to an emergency room as quickly as
possible.
The urgent care can take care of x-rays and setting of broken bones,
stitching cuts, treating flu symptoms, and offering care for sinus
infections and other physical ailments. The office also offers
onsite pharmaceuticals.
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The building at 602 Woodlawn Road was built
specifically for the urgent care by contractor/property owners Ed
Grunloh and Jeff Richards of Effingham. The Effingham urgent care
was also built by Grunloh and Richards. At the ribbon cutting on
Wednesday, Grunloh said that the research had been done to support
the need for an urgent care in Lincoln and the location he felt was
ideal. He said that Dr. Toofan had done very well with the urgent
care in Effingham, and it is expected that he will do well in
Lincoln as well. The building which is officially called Midtowne
Plaza has one more space available for lease. Grunloh said it was
2,000 square feet and an application has been put before the Lincoln
city council for a special use permit for a drive-thru window. He
said he has a couple of prospects for the vacant building but
nothing concrete at this time. At the
Wednesday open house, a ribbon cutting ceremony was held at noon.
Joining Dr. Toofan behind the ribbon was all the staff of urgent
care, Grunloh and Richards, and Karter Browne with Browne Electric
that worked on the building project. Also on hand was Lincoln City
Clerk Peggy Bateman, Lincoln alderwoman Robin McClallen, Logan
County Tourism Bureau Director Alice Roate, Lincoln Economic
Advancement and Development Director Andrea Runge, Logan County
Board Member Kathy Schmidt and Lincoln Mayor Tracy Welch. Karen
Castelein, Chassidy White and Nila Smith with Lincoln Daily News
assisted with the ribbon cutting.
After a quick thank you to those in attendance,
Schmidt was asked to speak on behalf of the Logan County Board. She
spoke briefly saying, “The whole county and Lincoln is super excited
from the time this ground was broken for what you are doing, and we
thank you so much.”
Schmidt’s comments were followed by Mayor Welch.
“What Kathy said is perfect, I’ve been excited since the ground was
broken. This parcel of land has sat here for a very long time
unused. This business will serve a need that the community has had
for a very long time, again not a replacement but another option for
health care, and really looking forward to and wish you much
success.”
Ed Grunloh and Jeff Richards were offered the opportunity to speak
if they so desired. Grunloh spoke for both simply saying that he
appreciated the welcome from the community and mentioning that there
is still one space available in the Midetowne Plaza.
Then the floor was turned over to Dr. Toofan. He
addressed those in attendance saying, “What you see is a product of
a lot of work and effort. We started this back in January and
identified Lincoln as a place where we thought we could make an
impact, could help, and we’re very excited to be here. We love the
warm welcome, it is the type of community we want to be a part of.
Where it is a local group where everybody is working together, our
staff is local, and we’re just happy to be here and fill a need
here.”
With speeches concluded the posed picture was taken,
followed by the traditional countdown when Dr. Toofan snipped the
ribbon on the new business/medical facility in Lincoln. Immediately
afterward everyone was invited to come inside, enjoy some
refreshments, take a tour of the building and get acquainted with
Dr. Toofan and the staff.
Visit the Central Illinois Urgent Care website:
Urgent Care Centers
in Central Illinois | Central Illinois Urgent Care
[Nila Smith]
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