New chapter of urgent care begins
Robbinsville – With a quick snip, Graham County Urgent Care was deemed officially ready to receive patients.
County dignitaries joined staff at the front entrance to the former location of Smoky Mountain Urgent Care (21 S. Main St., Robbinsville) on Feb. 16 for a ribbon-cutting, which ushered in a new era of preventive care and quick medical solutions available to local residents.
“Our goal is to provide the best possible medical care for Graham County, with the resources we have,” said Dr. David Booth, the physician who will be heading up Graham County Urgent Care. “We’ve got a great start and some great folks behind the scenes, making this all possible. The providers and commissioners have worked extremely hard to make this happen.
“I know what’s needed here and I will learn more about what’s needed here as we go along.”
Practicing in Europa, Miss., (roughly 30 miles from Starkville), Booth owns a home in Nantahala and admitted Feb. 16 to traversing to western North Carolina every other weekend. He formerly worked at Tallulah Health Clinic (now a member of the Appalachian Mountain Community Health Centers) and fell in love with Graham County at a young age, while vacationing with family.
“I’m not born and raised in Graham County, but I feel like God sent me,” Booth said. “About 10 years ago, I can remember taking Parsons Branch Road (from Cades Cove to the Tail of the Dragon) and we were just riding around, then we saw the Tallulah clinic. We went in and introduced ourselves. I worked there two Fridays a month for about three years.”
Since the county-owned building opened in March 2015, 4/5 of the county commissioners still on the board have worked to make sure the best healthcare availability is present for residents.
“The goal hasn’t changed,” said commissioner Connie Orr. “We want everyone to have the best care, at home. It’s a huge – but worthy – undertaking and it’s one we’ve been committed to 100 percent since day one; and we still are.”
“All the commissioners that have served since March 2015 have advocated and fought diligently for any type of healthcare in our county, that would benefit our citizens,” added Juanita Colvard, director of Graham County Transit and an advocate herself for urgent-care services. “Dr. Booth has so many good visions for making things better here in Graham County and about bringing in specialists for our county. It’s a win-win.”