By Eleanor Sevigny
Published July 14, 2022 in The Burg
Solvera Health opened a new healthcare clinic in Galesburg on July 11. This will be the third clinic Solvera Health has opened.
Five years ago Soctt Anderson (chief product officer of Solvera Health) approached Phil Caplis (CEO of Solvera Health) about opening a comprehensive healthcare facility. Fast forward to the COVID-19 pandemic. Caplis owned Golden Corral Buffet & Grill in Peoria.
“COVID-19 put a strain on the restaurant industry. In August of 2020 Golden Corral closed its doors for good. Instead of opening another restaurant or converting the building to another form of real estate I remembered the conversation I had with Anderson.” explained Caplis.
Even though Caplis worked in the restaurant industry for 20 years, he took the leap.
“We converted the Golden Corral building into our homebase, the Peoria Clinic.” stated Caplis.
The Solvera Health Clinic has been open for seven to eight months in Peoria.
“We have received great feedback from not only patients, but also doctors and nurses.” proudly stated Caplis.
Since opening the Peoria location Solvera has opened a clinic in Carbondale and now Galesburg.
“Before Cottage closed we were looking at Galesburg as a possible third location. After Cottage closed we saw a need. We are bringing hospitality to healthcare. The Peoria Clinic is everything we want to offer for Galesburg. Options in healthcare all in one spot for the convenience of the patient. Our Peoria facility offers 85 percent of medical needs under one roof (labs, imaging, physical therapy, pharmacy, primary care, audiology, EKG, Flu testing, COVID-19 testing, ultrasound, etc…).” explained Caplis.
The Galesburg location currently offers primary care, family care, senior care, blood work, urinalysis, EKG, Flu testing, COVID-19 testing, urology, birth control, specialty referrals, care management, telehealth, physical therapy, insurance counseling, and same day appointments. Patients who need minor procedures, nurse practitioners, gynecology, audiology, x-ray, DEXA, ultrasound, labs, and pharmacy can hop on I-74 to go to the Peoria clinic.
The Galesburg clinic is open 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday at 256 South Soangetaha Road. They accept Aetna, AARP, Blue Care Network, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Blue Cross Community Health, Caterpillar, Cigna, Consociate Health, Humana - Medicare, Medicare, Medicaid, Meridian, Molina, Priority Health, Tricare, and United Healthcare.
Currently Dr. Julio Santiago (family medicine), Dr. Thomas Patterson (urologist), and Dr. Samuel Fox (gynecologist) work at the clinic with their support team Linda Butler (RN), Jenee Campbell (Patient Advocate), Nick Elders (Patient Advocate/Medical Records), Jacob Ettinger IT Coordinator, Zoe Ettinger Patient Greeter, Kari Hanegan Patient Advocate, Noelle Landon (Patient Advocate), Sarah Sexton (Medical Assistant), Dawn Tatro (Practice Manager), and Susan Webber (Patient Advocate). To become a patient at the Galesburg Solvera clinic call 233-2836.
Solvera is looking at expanding the Galesburg clinic to the Harley Davidson building depending on the response to their current facility over the next three to four months.
Caplis would like the Knox County community to know “we’re excited to be part of the community. We are community orientated. We’re excited to have been able to hire former Cottage employees. They were loyal and stuck by their patients through the closing of Cottage. We’re happy they chose our concept of medical care. We will be establishing ourselves within the community through events, marketing, and quality care. Feel free to check out our website to tour the Peoria facility and view our upcoming events (https://solverahealth.com/).”
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