Norton Immediate Care Center – Audubon will open on Dec. 20, 2021 adjacent to Norton Audubon Hospital. The building, a former Walmart Neighborhood Market, will also house Norton Community Medical Associates – Audubon and a CPA Lab specimen collection area.

Story by: Lynne Choate on December 15, 2021

Norton Immediate Care Center – Audubon, the 18th urgent care center owned by Norton Healthcare, will open on Dec. 20, 2021, in a newly constructed space at 3101 Poplar Level Road adjacent to Norton Audubon Hospital. The building, a former Walmart Neighborhood Market, will also house Norton Community Medical Associates – Audubon and a CPA Lab specimen collection area.

Norton Immediate Care Center – Audubon

The immediate care center will be open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., seven days a week. It will create 15 jobs for caregivers and support staff.

“Having a Norton Immediate Care Center in this area gives the community yet another option for urgent care when an emergency department visit is not warranted or when our Norton eCare service is not an option for a patient,” said Joseph M. Flynn, D.O., MPH, FACP, chief administrative officer, Norton Medical Group, and physician-in-chief, Norton Cancer Institute. “We’ve also made technology a focus to improve the patient experience while maintaining a personal touch.”

The center will have technological features including a computerized self-check-in system that will allow patients to register for their appointment more quickly, a computerized patient education system in all exam rooms and, eventually, status boards for estimated wait times.

Norton Community Medical Associates – Audubon

The new primary care office will combine three practices moving from the Norton Audubon Hospital campus. Moving them to this singular location will give patients easier access.

The practice will consist of 24 currently employed primary care providers, some of whom are accepting new patients, and 70 support staff, including nurses, licensed practical nurses and office staff. It has 42 exam rooms, 10 telehealth rooms, two X-ray rooms and two procedure rooms. There also is space to expand the number of primary care providers.

“We see this new facility as an extension of the Norton Audubon Hospital campus,” Dr. Flynn said. “Once the primary care offices move out of the medical plaza buildings connected to the hospital, it will allow for additional subspecialty expansion in areas such as cardiology and vascular care.”

Physical space

• Norton Healthcare purchased the empty retail space for approximately $4 million in April 2019 with plans to convert the space in early 2020. At the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, the space was needed to provide drive-thru COVID-19 testing. Construction began in November 2020, with a total renovation cost of $12.3 million.
• Total square footage: Approximately 40,580 square feet
• Architect and interior design: Stengel Hill Architecture
• General contractor: Messer
• Electrical/mechanical: CMTA Inc.
• Civil engineering: BTM Engineering Inc.
• Structural engineering: Brown + Kubican PSC
• Equipment planning: Med Equip Consultants LLC