Patients come first
Medical care clinic near Liberty’s campus is ready to serve the community
A new full-service medical care facility has opened near Liberty University just in time for cold and flu season.
Clinic — Liberty Mountain Medical Group opened to the public in June 2015. Photo credit: Michela Diddle
The Liberty University College of Osteopathic Medicine (LUCOM) has partnered with Central Virginia Family Physicians (CVFP) to create a location close to campus for employees, students and community members to use.
Liberty Mountain Medical Group (LMMG) is located beside KMart on Wards Road. It is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday.
Unlike an urgent care center, LMMG, which opened June 29 of this year, will offer only primary care to its patients.
The clinic will provide women’s health services, internal medicine, family medicine, joint rehabilitation, sports medicine, pediatrics, and osteopathic manipulation among other resources. LMMG also includes X-ray and lab capabilities.
Dean of LUCOM Dr. Ronnie Martin said one of the reasons CVFP was chosen as a partner was due to its philosophy of patient-centered care and that the medical home concept matched Liberty’s view.
“We believe that primary care is more about the patient than treatment of the disease,” Martin said.
Martin said the location on Wards Road was selected due to the proximity to campus. Although the facility is not only for students, due to the fact that Liberty has an on-campus medical center located at Green Hall, Martin hopes LMMG will be a “major resource and provider for the Liberty family” as well as the community.
Martin explained that in opening the facility, they did not want to be a negative influence on other medical practices or create competition in the area. Their intention is to show that Liberty strives to serve those in need.
“The standard for medical colleges is to provide medical assistance to the community,” Martin said. “We feel responsible to do what we can to improve the health of the community.”
LMMG can handle approximately 200 patients daily and accepts various forms of insurance, including Medicare, Tricare and some Medicaid and uninsured patients.
A combination of physicians from CVFP and medical professionals from LUCOM will jointly staff the clinic as the business begins to grow.
For students studying sports medicine and nursing, the medical clinic will also be a classroom.
Starting their third year, medical students will shadow the professional physicians as part of their clinicals as they care for patients.
While they will not be assessing a patient on their own, students will still get hands-on experience at LMMG.
“Clinical education of all student work is provided under direct supervision of a medical professional,” Martin said.
In opening a medical center, Martin said his two main objectives are to provide a location to train the medical students and to improve the overall health of the community.
According to LUCOM’s website, their purpose is to be “dedicated to not only training competent and compassionate doctors, but to putting that competence and compassion to work for the benefit of surrounding communities.”
To schedule an appointment with a physician, call the Wards Road office at (434) 582-2273. Same-day appointments are accepted. More information can be found at www.cvfp.net/cvfp-liberty-mountain.html.
Coleman is a news reporter.