HCA Healthcare has made a preliminary agreement to purchase BetterMed, a Richmond-based chain of urgent care facilities, the latest instance of expansion of a local health system.

HCA will purchase all 12 BetterMed locations. The health system declined to reveal the purchase price. It’s unclear how the urgent care centers will be branded and staffed.

“Throughout our discussion, we have been impressed by the high quality, compassionate, and efficient care provided by BetterMed’s providers and employees, and we look forward to working closely together to support their efforts in our communities,” said Tim McManus, president of HCA Healthcare’s capital division, in a statement.

Founded in 2011, BetterMed is led by CEO Mark Johnson, a former executive at Sara Lee, PepsiCo and MeadWestvaco.

It has eight locations in greater Richmond, two in the Fredericksburg area and two in North Carolina. The first location, which opened near Hull Street Road in 2012, was called Emergency Physicians Immediate Care and was owned by doctors.

In 2014, it rebranded as BetterMed and expanded. In 2019, it announced new locations in Short Pump, Chester and at Regency mall in Henrico County.

The expansion of Richmond-area health systems has proceeded despite the pandemic. Bon Secours, a nonprofit health system, acquired Tuckahoe Orthopaedics last year and is building a medical office building in the city’s East End and its fourth freestanding emergency room in Chester.

Virginia Commonwealth University Health, a government-affiliated system, is planning two new downtown buildings: a research facility to replace the Public Safety Building and a 16-story, $400 million “Wonder Tower” for the Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU. It recently opened the 17-story Adult Outpatient Pavilion.

HCA, a for-profit system, operates three freestanding emergency rooms in the Richmond area. A fourth, in the West Creek Business Park near the Goochland County line, ceased operations at the beginning of the pandemic.

Earlier this year, HCA purchased 59 urgent care centers in Florida called MD Now Urgent Care. At the time of the purchase, HCA operated 170 urgent care clinics in 19 markets.

Based in Nashville, Tenn., HCA operates 183 hospitals and about 2,000 ambulatory sites, including freestanding ERs, urgent care centers and physician clinics in 20 states and the United Kingdom.

HCA’s purchase of BetterMed was previously reported by Richmond BizSense.

Eric Kolenich writes about higher education, health systems and more for the Richmond Times-Dispatch. He joined the newspaper in 2009 and spent 11 years in the Sports section. (804) 649-6109

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