Geisinger establishing comprehensive primary care facility in Buckhorn
Three primary care offices, ConvenientCare, 65 Forward, retail pharmacy, imaging and lab to consolidate into one convenient location in early 2022
The new location, which formerly housed call center staff who are now working from home, is scheduled to open in February 2022 and will consolidate three existing practices in Catawissa, Millville and Reichart Road in Bloomsburg. This innovative care model will also provide space for additional doctors, physician’s assistants and nurse practitioners, a 65 Forward, ConvenientCare, laboratory testing, imaging and a retail pharmacy.
“We are always exploring opportunities to make better health easy for our neighbors in the community who often need to travel to multiple locations for separate appointments for things like laboratory testing, imaging, urgent care and more,” said Lorien Beishline, Geisinger’s associate vice president for community medicine. “We’re excited for the convenience this new facility at Buckhorn will provide our patients by centralizing these frequently needed services into one location, limiting the need for multiple appointments at multiple locations over the span of several days or even weeks.”
In addition to a centralized location surrounded by other frequently visited retail businesses, the larger clinic affords the opportunity to recruit and hire additional doctors, physician’s assistants and nurse practitioners so Columbia County residents will be able to get appointments sooner. For those in need of acute or urgent appointments, 98% of Geisinger patients are already able to be seen within 24 hours. Establishing facilities like the one in Buckhorn will help maintain and improve upon these trends.
“When our patients require less travel and fewer appointments to get the care they need, we know they can be healthier and are more likely to avoid unnecessary emergency room visits and hospitalizations,” said Maria Kobylinski, MD, Geisinger’s department chair of community medicine. “Establishing facilities like this one in Buckhorn also helps us minimize unnecessary costs, allowing us to reinvest more into the community for state-of-the-art services, recruiting top doctors and other programs that continue making better health easy for our patients, members and communities.”
About Geisinger
Geisinger is among the nation’s leading providers of value-based care, serving 1.2 million people in urban and rural communities across Pennsylvania. Founded in 1915 by philanthropist Abigail Geisinger, the non-profit system generates $10 billion in annual revenues across 134 care sites - including 10 hospital campuses, and Geisinger Health Plan, with 600,000 members in commercial and government plans. The Geisinger College of Health Sciences educates more than 5,000 medical professionals annually and conducts more than 1,400 clinical research studies. With 26,000 employees, including 1,600 employed physicians, Geisinger is among Pennsylvania’s largest employers with an estimated economic impact of $14 billion to the state’s economy. On March 31, 2024, Geisinger became the first member of Risant Health, a new nonprofit charitable organization created to expand and accelerate value-based care across the country. Learn more at geisinger.org or connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X.
