Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina intends to purchase all North Carolina locations of FastMed, a national chain of urgent care clinics.
FastMed offers preventive, telehealth, occupational health, primary and urgent care services at clinics across North Carolina, Arizona, Texas and Florida. In North Carolina, the company operates 55 facilities, according to its website.
Blue Cross NC and FastMed would collaborate on and invest in ways to further enhance services at the clinics, and short-term plans include returning service operations to pre-pandemic levels, according to an Oct. 20 news release.
"With approximately half of FastMed's clinics located in rural areas of our state with limited access to health care resources, this is an important investment in North Carolina," Blue Cross NC CEO Tunde Sotunde said.
The pending acquisition is expected to close in early 2024. Blue Cross NC has been a non-controlling minority investor in FastMed since 2012, and the company would continue to operate independently from Blue Cross. It would also continue to accept all patients, not just Blue Cross members.