MORGANTOWN -- MedExpress has undergone a whirlwind of expansion this year.

The little urgent care clinic that started with just four doctors in 2001 in Morgantown has grown to 24 locations in four states.

And the opening in early November of clinics in Huntington and Charleston will bring that total to 26.

"The MedExpress story is real now in West Virginia with us being the leader in urgent care for the state and committed to being headquartered here," said Eric Lipphardt, vice president of development and marketing.

History

MedExpress's founders were emergency medicine residents together at West Virginia University. They opened the first Morgantown clinic to fill the gap between the community's primary care network and its emergency care.

"Morgantown embraced MedExpress quickly," Lipphardt said.

After three years of tweaking the model, the company opened a second clinic in Washington, Pa., in 2004 and a third in Monroeville, outside Pittsburgh, in 2005. The following year brought a location in Parkersburg and two more in southwestern Pennsylvania.

This summer, MedExpress acquired urgent care companies in Florida and Colorado, instantly doubling the number of clinics and number of states it operates in.

MedExpress quickly proceeded to open new locations in each of those states, along with two others that opened this year in Pennsylvania.

MedExpress's expansion outside West Virginia has been quick even though the company is very rooted in the state. President, CEO and co-founder Frank Alderman is from White Sulphur Springs. Chief Operations Officer Kevin Blankenship is from Coal City, near Beckley. Chief Medical Officer and co-founder Bryan Stuchell is from Preston County.

But before MedExpress could expand at home, it needed a favorable ruling from the West Virginia Health Care Authority.

Opposition

Wheeling Hospital early this year asked the HCA to subject MedExpress to Certificate of Need review similar to that required for a hospital, arguing that its operation goes beyond the type of private office practice that is exempt from such review.

Charleston Area Medical Center and Raleigh General Hospital in Beckley, both in markets where MedExpress was preparing to open, also filed letters supporting Wheeling Hospital's request.

But the HCA ruled in May that MedExpress does indeed meet the criteria for a private practice.

The company quickly opened in Wheeling in June, in Beckley in August and is prepared to open in Huntington and Charleston in November.

"We are thrilled to be moving forward ... with zero concerns about any issues in the past," Lipphardt said. "We are excited as all get-out that we've been able to come back home and get West Virginia taken care of."

The Model

MedExpress provides routine care such as physicals and vaccinations as well as care for minor illnesses and injuries and contract care with corporations for their employees.

The urgent care model of medical delivery varies, and MedExpress's is centered on convenience, accessibility and affordability, according to Lipphardt.

"We have full-service facilities offering the X-ray and laboratory services that our staff require to treat the patients that present at MedExpress," he said. "It's under-one-roof convenience. If you've broken an ankle, we're not going to send you down the road to get an X-ray -- we're going to do it there."

There is always a physician on-site, he added.

"And you don't have to wonder when we're open," he concluded. "We're open seven days per week, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. You just walk in."

New Headquarters

Until recently, MedExpress supported its growing number of clinics from three separate administrative centers in Morgantown.

The company consolidated those offices in September. They now occupy a single 32,000-square foot corporate headquarters in the Sabraton section of Morgantown -- a former Food Lion.

"It was the approximate size we needed and, based on the availability of space in Morgantown and the speed with which we needed to get somewhere, it matched up with what we needed to do," Lipphardt said.

Although Lipphardt did not know exactly how many people MedExpress employs now, he estimated 15 to 16 employees at each of the 24 operating clinics and about 80 at the headquarters. He said the total number is probably less than 440 right now since some of the newer clinics are not yet fully mature.

And he could not be specific about further expansion plans.

"We would hope to extend our footprint so that we can have an impact on access and affordability of urgent care services for as many patients as possible, but we do not want to sacrifice the quality of care or level of customer service we provide," Lipphardt said. "We see ourselves as the best in class, strongest urgent care provider in the U.S. We're very proud to be headquartered in and to have started in West Virginia."