Cannon Pharmacy, IndyCare collaborate to bring new urgent care center to Kannapolis
Published 12:10 am Wednesday, August 10, 2022
Madeline Wagoner/Salisbury Post — Cannon Pharmacy has partnered with IndyCare to bring efficient healthcare to the community members of Kannapolis starting August 29.
Madeline Wagoner/Salisbury Post — (Left) Franklin Roye and (Right) Tyler LaBauch have been working diligently together to bring a vision to life that will bridge the gap of health services to ensure every patient has what they need for their care.
Madeline Wagoner/Salisbury Post — The corridor leads to the back of Cannon Pharmacy which houses two exam rooms and the entrance of IndyCare's curbside service.
Madeline Wagoner/Salisbury Post — An open waiting room will welcome patients of all concerns with a 30 minute estimated waiting time.
Madeline Wagoner/Salisbury Post — The check-in desk will also serve as a clinical office for medical professionals.
KANNAPOLIS — For those in Rowan and Cabarrus counties, healthcare is about to become more convenient with the opening of an innovative urgent care at the independently owned Cannon Pharmacy on South Cannon Boulevard.
IndyCare, an urgent care facility based in Hillsborough, stands by the slogan “Your front door to better” to bridge the gap between healthcare and their pharmaceutical and educational needs. What makes its services unique is the convenience of having an integrated relationship with Cannon Pharmacy to prescribe medications, offer patients education about their diagnoses and give them an affordable way to receive health services through a monthly subscription program.
IndyPass is a $30-a-month membership that offers unlimited urgent care visits for $10 each, up to 80% discounts on lab tests and free annual flu shots and physicals with no deductible to meet. Additionally, member or not, curbside and Teledoc examinations are available.
According to Franklin Roye, co-founder of IndyCare, the IndyPass program is ideal for small businesses wanting to provide healthcare services for their employees but do not have the funds to do so. However, individuals and families are also welcome to become a members. The subscription does not replace insurance.
“The motto is making sure we provide services that help individuals in the community,” said Tyler LaBauch, a pharmacist at the South Cannon Boulevard location who has been collaborating with the IndyCare team. “It’s an urgent care setting that’s almost a ‘primary care lite.’ ”
LaBauch used to be the regional vice president of Target for Charlotte, Greensboro, Winston-Salem and Knoxville, Tennessee before becoming a manager at Cannon Pharmacy. He will also oversee the services in the urgent care facility. The clinic will be open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday. Every week, clinical pharmacist Sona Tailor will visit to provide education and care for patients. She is certified in diabetic education and is working to receive a weight loss education certificate.
He and Franklin Roye, co-founder of IndyCare, describe what is coming to the pharmacy as a “hub,” as people are often moving in and out of the facility to address a range of problems and check-ups from stitches for a wound to routine care and employment physicals.
Caregivers at the urgent care will be able to monitor patient blood sugar and blood pressure remotely to communicate progress and concerns with a primary doctor’s office.
“It’s a big transformation for a pharmacy to go through to shift their thinking away from product and dispensing and everything around the product into a more broad mindset about not just seeing yourself as a pharmacy any more but seeing yourself as a solution shop for health care needs,” Roye said. “What’s great about Cannon was they were already far along that mind shift as a pharmacy. What they really needed was the system and infrastructure to make it a reality.”
The plan was proposed at the beginning of 2020 before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Then in December 2021, the plan was revisited and now has an opening set for Aug. 29.
Surprisingly, there were no supply or equipment delays to challenge the process but coming up with an interface that was easily understandable for all took the most planning and processing.
“Our approach to planning was thinking of how patients should experience our services,” Roye said. “It’s a different way of developing. We start out and work our way in, planning around what will benefit the community first.”
According to LaBauch, Cannon Pharmacy customers are already inquiring about the urgent care services and calling to schedule appointments.
The IndyCare center remains under construction. It is wedged between the pharmacy and medical equipment portion of the store. A door on the front wall will lead into a waiting room and a check-in window leads to a desk area that serves as a clinical office for medical professionals.
Walking down a hallway with glass on left will lead patients to the restroom first then the first exam room that will be used most often for medical procedures such as suturing. A second exam room at the end of the hallway includes a door leading outside to the back parking lot where curbside care will be administered along with in-house flu and COVID testing. Patients will be able to stay in their car and have their medicine brought out to them if it is prescribed during their visit.
The area was used as extra office space and storage for Cannon Pharmacy’s dollar aisle, so it was available to be transformed into IndyCare, which can be found on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube as well as at https://indycarehealth.com/kp
