Chesapeake Regional Healthcare has opened a new outpatient center at the corner of Battlefield Boulevard and Hanbury Road — a site the health system said is designed to streamline care and shorten the time it takes for patients to get imaging test results.
Inside, the facility pairs urgent care with a full MRI, CT, ultrasound and X-ray imaging center, allowing patients to move from exam room to scan in minutes.
For people in southern Chesapeake and northeastern North Carolina — including Moyock, where no urgent care options exist — the center is meant to close a longstanding gap.
“I think that the technology itself and where we're located will help with the patient experience, in terms of shorter wait times, easy access, extended hours, the coordination between the urgent care and the imaging center in our Chesapeake Regional providers,” said Tawana Haynes, senior director of imaging for the health system.
A first for Chesapeake Regional: A virtual line for urgent care
The site is also Chesapeake Regional’s first to use On My Way, a digital tool built into the health system’s record system.
Patients can reserve a time slot online, much like making a restaurant reservation.
“It works like OpenTable,” said Christine England, director of operations. “You pick a time, check in online, and arrive when it’s your turn. You don’t have to sit in the waiting room for hours.”
The feature is designed to reduce the long, idle waits that often come with walk-in care.
England said it also gives them a clearer sense of who is coming in and when, allowing them to prepare for patients with more complex needs and smooth out bottlenecks during peak respiratory illness seasons.
The urgent care department includes 12 exam rooms. Each provider typically sees 45 to 50 patients a day, England said.
Haynes said the entire center averages 60 to 75 imaging patients a day, pending on X-ray volume.
Once the site reaches full staffing early next year, with two providers scheduled most days, the clinic could accommodate up to 100 patients daily.
Advanced imaging, subspecialty reads and same-day answers
Patients can get fluoroscopy-guided joint injections, arthrograms and rapid MSK and neuro scans that are interpreted on site by subspecialty-trained radiologists for faster, same-day answers.
“We’re bringing advanced technology right into the community,” Haynes said.“If a patient in urgent care needs a CT of their head or abdomen, we can do it immediately. They don’t leave the building.”
The model is intended to speed diagnosis and reduce the back-and-forth patients often face when imaging is located at a separate facility.
The facility’s fee schedule is about 30% lower than nearby imaging centers, Haynes said.
England said staff have already sent a steady mix of flu, COVID, injuries and patients straight to imaging.
“So far, everything’s been going really well,” she said. “We’re only on day two — and we’re already seeing how much people need this.”
