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Immediate Care Health Chain MedSpring Expands to Wicker Park and Lakeview

By Alisa Hauser | November 17, 2014 12:47pm | Updated on November 17, 2014 1:20pm
 MedSpring is opening a walk-in medical and urgent care clinic at 1520 N. Damen Ave., in a storefront that formerly housed a PNC bank branch.
MedSpring is opening a walk-in medical and urgent care clinic at 1520 N. Damen Ave., in a storefront that formerly housed a PNC bank branch.
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DNAinfo/Alisa Hauser

WICKER PARK —An urgent care clinic that could help folks avoid going to a hospital emergency room for non life threatening injuries, among other services, will be opening locations in Wicker Park and Lakeview this winter and spring, it was announced Monday.

Austin,Texas-based MedSpring is scheduled to open its fifth Chicago area outpost in February at 1520 N. Damen Ave. in a shopping mall just south of the CTA Damen Blue Line "L" station,  said Nerissa Sardi, a company spokeswoman.

"We selected the Wicker Park location because the neighborhood is presently underserved in terms of access to quick, convenient immediate care. The close proximity to the 'L' train and other local transportation make it an ideal area to provide that access," Sardi said.

Sardi said each MedSpring location, which offers walk-in and same day appointments, employs between nine and 12 healthcare professionals who treat a range of illnesses and injuries from coughs, colds and infections to burns, cuts and broken bones.

Other immediate care services include onsite X-rays, radiology, vaccinations, drug screens and sports and school physicals.

MedSpring's hours are 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, including weekends and most holidays, with most visits lasting less than an hour, Nardi said.

A city permit for a $95,000 renovation project was issued on Thursday to build MedSpring's office in a 3,725 square-foot storefront, which counts craft cocktail lounge Violet Hour and Massage Envy among its immediate neighbors.

Previously the storefront housed a PNC Bank branch, which moved out in September.

On Sunday, Joe Davis, owner of Massage Envy, which opened earlier this month, said he is glad the vacant storefront next store has been rented.

"I definitely think it is a good fit. If people are going to the doctor, it could be great for our services to be so close," Davis said.

In addition to Wicker Park, MedSpring, which has existing clinics in Lakeview and River North as well as the suburbs, is also planning to open a walk-in clinic at 3301 N. Ashland Ave. in West Lakeview this spring, Sardi said.

Elsewhere in the Wicker Park area, Northwestern Medicine is currently building a brand new one-story office at 1776 N. Milwaukee Ave, next to the Bloomingdale Trail.

A spokeswoman from Northwestern Medicine previously said that the new building will offer primary care, "certain diagnostics," along with some specialty health services.

At a community meeting last Tuesday, Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd), said that Northwestern Medicine would be relocating its Bucktown radiology and primary care offices from 1913 W. North Ave. to 1776 N. Milwaukee Ave., Our Urban Times reported.

Just south of that medical office, another walk-in clinic, Physicians Immediate Care, is planning to move into the former Scoop NYC building at 1702 N. Milwaukee Ave., Waguespack said on Monday.

Jerry Becker, a real estate broker who has been working to secure new tenants for the standalone building, said on Monday that he is in the "end stages" of finalizing deals to put two tenants, including Physicians Immediate Care, into the building.

A spokeswoman for Physicians Immediate Care, a Rockford-based chain with five other locations in Chicago, was not immediately available for comment.

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