New doctor in the neighborhood | Maryland Gazette (HometownGlenBurnie.com)

Patient First, based in Richmond, Va., will open its 22nd medical center and the first in the county Friday at 8105 Ritchie Highway, just south of Jumpers Hole Road.

The centers are staffed by physicians and other health care workers who provide preventative, primary and urgent care, X-rays, lab testing, full pharmacies, travel immunizations and occupational health services, including worker's compensation.

All of those services are provided in-house.

Dr. Pete Sowers, the company's founder and chief executive officer, said he isn't worried about competition from other next-door health care providers, which include a clinic run by Harbor Hospital. The area has enough population to handle another medical clinic, he said.

Patient First is so confident about the potential for business in north county that it plans to open an office at 7116 Ritchie Highway in Glen Burnie in December.

"We have physicians on all the time. It's not a nurse-run facility," Dr. Sowers said. "Our scope of services is probably broader than what you would normally find in other places that are labeled urgent care offices."

The company also moved its Maryland administrative office to Hanover. Between that office and the two new centers in Pasadena and Glen Burnie, the company will employ about 120 people in the county. The Pasadena location will employ six physicians and 20 support staff members, including nurses, radiologists, lab and X-ray technicians and front-desk employees.

The Pasadena center is opening next door to Nighttime Pediatrics North, which declined to comment, and Harbor Hospital Health Park. A representative of Harbor Hospital welcomed Patient First to the neighborhood.

"We believe that this will ensure even more rapid treatment of patients in our emergency department," said Robert Bunker, assistant vice president of strategic planning and development at Harbor Hospital in South Baltimore.

"We continue to work towards collaboration with all medical providers in the area with the clinical goal of improving care of people in northern Anne Arundel County," Mr. Bunker said.

The Patient First center's ground-breaking was in February. The site was a residence that was turned into a business that was later torn down. Using an existing site was in line with Patient First's environmentally conscious philosophy, said Director of Facilities Dean Andrews.

"Instead of tearing down an area of woods, we got to reuse an existing site," he said.

A small, but exemplary, piece of Patient First's environmental efforts is that the centers no longer use plastic foam cups. A new storm water management system allows rainwater to be held underground and released into the ground at a steady pace, Mr. Andrews said. A lot of materials are recycled such as plastic, light bulbs and even ceiling tiles.

Workers listened to classic rock music while putting supplies in the pharmacy and labs and setting up 12 exam rooms. They stocked the rooms with eight kinds of adhesive bandages and the orthopedic supply closet with new crutches still wrapped in plastic.

Dr. Sowers opened the first Patient First in Richmond in 1981 with the idea of providing a center that offered a variety of services, including urgent and primary medical care.

"It probably makes more sense today than ever before," he said. This is because of the growth of the population, the crowding of emergency rooms and people's desire for convenience, he said.

Patient First, 8105 Ritchie Highway, will host an open house from 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday with food, tours of the center and staff members on hand to introduce themselves. All locations are open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day of the year and no appointment is necessary.