By Rubin E. Grant
It didn’t take long for Chip Vance to see the practicality of the new OS1 Sports Injury Clinic in Hoover.
A week after the OS1 clinic opened on June 15 in Hoover, a woman brought in her daughter for treatment.
“Her daughter had fallen in practice and bent her wrist and she thought it might be broken,” said Vance, OS1 president
and CEO. “She had heard about us and seen the signs about our clinic. She called and came in around 6:30 p.m. and got it X- rayed and we braced it.
“All of it took about 45 minutes. That’s better than waiting in the emergency room for a few hours to be seen,” Vance said.
That’s the whole idea behind OS1 Sports Injury Clinic, Alabama’s first full-service, orthopedic urgent care walk-in clinic. OS1 is in The Village at Brock’s Gap near the Hoover Met Complex.
The clinic offers urgent care from a fellowship-trained sports medicine professional. It is specifically for sports-related and orthopedic-related injuries ranging from fractures, dislocations, sprains and overuse injuries.
The business model for OS1 was developed through the collaboration of its founders, Bill Dexheimer, founder of several health care and health care IT businesses; Dr. Lyle Cain; Dr. Jeffrey Dugas; Dr. Bruce Irwin, founder of American Family Care; Randy Johansen, president of American Family Care; Dr. A.J. “Lonnie” Strickland, PhD and professor of strategic management at the University of Alabama Graduate School of Business; Dr. Kennie Bramlett; and several other leading orthopedic physicians and executives.
“We spent a considerable amount of time with our founders refining our business model,” Vance said. “The overwhelming consensus was there is currently a gap in the marketplace when it comes to conveniently and cost- effectively treating acute, orthopedic injuries by providers expertly trained in sports medicine.
“Our OS1 business model includes our primary medical provider being fellowship-trained in sports medicine. Fortunately, Birmingham is home to one of the world’s most-respected, accredited orthopedic fellowship programs – the American Sports Medicine Institute.”
Dr. Chris Williams is OS1’s primary medical provider. He is in the final weeks of his ASMI fellowship and clinical training at the Andrews Sports Medicine & Orthopaedic Center. As a non-surgical sports medicine physician, Williams treats all types of orthopedic medical issues, including sports-related and non-sports-related injuries.
Bryan Wimbish, a certified registered nurse practitioner with sports medicine training, also works at the clinic.
The clinic has comprehensive diagnostic imaging equipment on site – with state-of-the-art MRI and X-ray equipment – allowing clinicians to accurately diagnose patients.
“We’re really excited about opening,” Vance said. “We didn’t plan it that way, but we couldn’t have had better timing than opening during the COVID-19 pandemic, when a lot of people have no desire to go to the emergency room or a hospital clinic.
“If you have a child who has hurt his ankle or arm, the last place you want to go is to an emergency room and be exposed to people with other illnesses. They can come here and get a high level of care without worrying about that.”
The clinic is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. “We wanted to make it as easy as possible for people to come in and be seen,” Vance said.
