Treating 280

Grandview Medical Center is set to open Oct. 10, and the focus is on its network.

Along with a new building, Grandview Medical Center — formerly Trinity Medical Center — will offer a network of primary care physicians and specialists in order to provide easy access to a variety of treatments, said Keith Granger, president and CEO of Trinity Medical Center. There are primary care offices in Chelsea, Lee Branch, Trussville, Liberty Park and Springville, and a Hoover office is about to open.  

“As we’ve seen in the disbursement of the population at the 280 corridor, we envision that we want to be a convenient stop for citizens that make those areas either their home or maybe where they work,” Granger said.

Grandview’s network will bring specialists into the primary care facilities on a rotating basis. That way, patients will not have to travel or schedule multiple appointments.

“Providing that service in that location is another differentiation point [from other practices],” said Drew Mason, COO of Trinity Medical Center. “You might not have those resources and those relationships and be able to have a specialist come to your primary care office.”

Bringing specialists to primary care offices simplifies scheduling for patients, said Dr. Virginia Winston, an OB-GYN in the Trinity/Grandview network. 

“[Patients] get an opportunity to go to one location and see many doctors for many of their different needs,” Winston said. “As an OB-GYN doctor, I specialize in the pelvis and diseases and disorders there, but then a person can come to the same building at a different time and take care of their other needs.”

Along with benefits to patients, Winston said rotating specialists benefit through the variety of locations and physicians they work with.  

“As a doctor and in my personal life, it sort of breaks the monotony of your days,” she said. “You get to go to a different location, see how different clinics operate and interact and just see the dynamics there. So for me, it’s a very good lifestyle variation.”

Dr. Bill Clifford started as a primary care physician at Grandview’s Chelsea office in early July. The partnership with Grandview, Clifford said, provides extra resources to him and his patients. 

Clifford formerly worked in the U.S. military, as a ground doctor in Afghanistan in 2013 and most recently as a flight surgeon in Kosovo. His experiences in the military have helped prepare him to bring care to the city of Chelsea, he said.

“Just the level of complexity of things that you saw brings a different perspective to your practice and how you practice medicine,” Clifford said. “You get a lot of experience overseas in a very short amount of time, so that kind of experience in Afghanistan would take somebody 10 years in an ER, maybe, to get in the U.S.”

Clifford’s military experience not only demonstrated his training but also his dedication to community. These aspects made him a great fit for the Chelsea community, Granger said.

“I think it certainly reflects the character of the individual we have selected in this case,” Granger said. “We know that [the Chelsea] market values those type of characteristics.”

Clifford has lived in Shelby County since 2006, and he is looking forward to working close to home. He said he plans to work with the community and individuals to accomplish long-term goals for patients. The ability to develop a closer patient-physician relationship, he said, helps separate his practice from other available facilities.

“They have a lot of urgent cares around,” Clifford said, “and not knocking urgent cares at all, but if you go to an urgent care you kind of miss out on the opportunity to have someone that really understands you and knows your health and is really interested in your long-term outlook.”

He hopes to set up resources for community members, including walking groups and gym discounts, in order to establish a culture of health in Chelsea. 

“Living in the area, and his heartfelt appreciation for what is going on, makes a great addition,” Granger said.

As a Shelby resident, Clifford also likes that patients will have the main Grandview campus closer to home and will not have to travel downtown for certain treatments. 

“One of the great things about being with Trinity Medical Group here in Chelsea is that with the addition of our new hospital on 280, we’ll be able to get our patients prompt care at a hospital nearby home so that [they] don’t have to drive so far downtown, away from our community,” Clifford said.

The last crane left Grandview’s construction site in May, and Granger said most work is currently going on inside the building, including moving in equipment and setting up offices. Grandview should receive its certificate of occupancy by August or September, Granger said.   

“Construction continues to go extremely well,” Granger said. “Our contractors on the project are running ahead of the projected schedules.”

Preparation for its October opening has been underway for months, as the Grandview staff must coordinate the transfer of patients, equipment and staff within one day. Once Grandview opens its doors, however, it will create a unified brand across all primary care facilities and websites, making appointment scheduling and network connections easier, Harris said.

“I think overall I would say that it’s really an exciting time for us as an organization, where we’ve had the opportunity to establish these sorts of physician relationships,” Granger said.