It’s no secret that hospitals in the U.S. are big business. In recent years, a growing and vocal contingent of Americans have argued that the country’s healthcare system is too business-oriented, placing profit above care and making it difficult for the financially disadvantaged to receive prompt, quality treatment.
Since 2015, Emediate Cure Quick Care has offered a more personal alternative to corporate-owned practices with its two clinics in the Joliet and Shorewood suburbs of Chicago. By focusing on community and family (both locations are locally and family-owned), Emediate Cure has become a go-to healthcare resource for patients experiencing non-life-threatening illnesses in the area. Now, after nearly seven years of operation, the chain is launching a franchise opportunity, aiming to bring affordable, locally-focused healthcare practices to cities across the country.
“There is a huge gap in the American healthcare system,” explained April Kubinski, Co-Founder and Operations Manager at Emediate Cure. “Most hospitals are owned by corporations and backed by investors, and most primary care physicians work out of practices owned by corporate hospitals. As a result, it’s become nearly impossible to find an independent practice that provides high-quality and low-cost care to people with and without insurance. With Emediate Cure, we’ve managed to fill that gap in Illinois, and now we are looking to do the same in towns and cities across the U.S.”
Why Two ER Professionals Opened Their Own Urgent Care
Kubinski founded Emediate Cure six years ago with her business partner Amy Vertin. Both Kubinski and Vertin worked in emergency rooms for years before starting their own clinic, and Emediate Cure was born out of the frustrations they had experienced in the hospital setting.
The two designed Emediate Cure to do what they felt their previous employers could not: put people first. Emediate Cure’s staff of board certified health professionals are focused on providing high-quality and personalized care to each patient, taking the time to educate them on their condition and treatment plan.
With Emediate Cure, Kubinski and Vertin aimed to bring back the type of family healthcare practice they experienced as children, when doctors and patients knew each other outside of the four walls of the doctor’s office and participated in the same communities.
“When I was a kid, my doctor was a big part of my life. He took the time to joke around with me and make me feel comfortable, telling me I had dinosaurs living in my ears and little jokes like that. And he watched me grow up,” Kubinski said. “Now when you visit a doctor you feel rushed and someone is often whispering in their ear that they need to see the next patient,” Kubinski said. “You feel lucky to get five minutes of attention.”
Why Emediate Cure Is Using a Franchise Model to Bring Its People-First Approach to Markets across The U.S.
The mission to return to community, people-focused medicine is exactly why Vertin and Kubinski say they are turning to franchising, which will allow them to ensure each new clinic is locally owned and operated by someone who shares their passion for high-quality, comprehensive and accessible healthcare.
“When we speak to prospective franchise owners, we tell them, ‘This will not just be a clinic that you run — it will be your clinic, in the community you live in.’ We want our franchisees and their staff to be known and respected in their communities,” Kubinski explained. “It’s not enough just to want to run a great clinic — though that is essential, of course — you also have to go out and meet the people you will be treating. Go to local softball games, movies in the park, festivals, local charity events — just get involved.”
As Kubinski and Vertin prepare to onboard franchisees in new markets, they say they are acutely aware of the challenges that come with launching a new business, and they have refined Emediate Cure’s operational model to make opening and operating each location as simple and cost-effective as possible.
While the brand has only recently launched its franchise efforts, Emediate Cure is already fielding inquiries from prospective franchisees eager to bring the brand’s personalized care model to their hometowns. Given the response the brand has seen thus far, Kubinski expects little trouble finding qualified partners in each market the franchise enters.
“As soon as we started talking about franchising, we started receiving calls from people asking to become franchisees,” Kubinski said. “We know the interest is there; it’s just a matter of finding the right people. Fortunately, we’ve designed the business in a way that allows anyone who shares our passion and commitment to find success.”
For more information on franchising with Emediate Cure, visit https://www.emediatecure.com/.
