New urgent care center opens in Benton Harbor

A new urgent care center opening this week in Benton Harbor looks to be an alternative to a trip to the emergency room.

“We are a neighborhood medical center and we will be providing injury and illness care, as well as wellness and prevention services and employer health services,” MedExpress Field Marketing Manager Emily Reinbold said.

The new MedExpress Urgent Care Center on M-139 in Benton Harbor hopes to be your one-stop-shop for daily medical needs.

A ribbon cutting for the center was held Tuesday afternoon, and MedExpress will officially open on Black Friday.

You can come in to be treated for any illness or injury.

The center can do x-rays, stitches, flu shots, physicals, help mend broken bones, and more.

It will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week.

You don’t need health insurance to get treated at MedExpress; and you don’t need an appointment.

Cornerstone Chamber of Commerce President Chris Heugel said the center is a first-of-its-kind in the area.

“We have had a lot of urgent cares that’s kind of come and gone, but nothing to this level that can do a full service, from broken bones to stitches to your basic stomach flu,” Heugel said. “They cover pretty much everything and it’s a well addition to this area.”

But MedExpress is quite far from downtown Benton Harbor, where there are no healthcare centers beyond the local veterans’ clinic and a faith-based medical practice on nearby Pipestone Street.

MedExpress is a 7-minute drive from the heart of downtown; and about a 55-minute walk.

The local bus service, Dial-a-Ride, can drop you off near MedExpress, but the downtown area still lacks healthcare in walking distance.

“I would hope that at some point in time they would have their own, so transportation is not a problem; that it’s closer,” Heugel said. “But in the meantime, this certainly is a good fit to be in this area.”

The Dial-a-Ride buses follow a route that can drop you off near the new MedExpress. Or you can call the bus company at 269-927-4461 and have them pick you up from your home and bring you straight there.

Between November 25 and December 8, staff members at MedExpress will be giving out free flu shots for patients ages nine and above.