VESTAL, N.Y. — Five Star Urgent Care has expanded into the Binghamton market by opening an office at 2549 Vestal Parkway East in the Town Square Mall in Vestal. It began operations on March 20 and held a formal-opening event during the preceding weekend on March 18.
Five Star describes itself as an emergency room “alternative,” offering treatment for non-life threatening ailments. The Vestal location is part of Five Star’s growth plan through 2018, with the company having identified Binghamton as a market for expansion, says Dr. John Radford, founder and owner of Five Star Urgent Care. He had some familiarity with the Vestal area, having worked in the emergency department at Lourdes Hospital in Binghamton in 2008.
“[I] always felt that there would be need for … urgent-care choices out in that area … we felt it was a place that our model would fit well,” says Radford. He spoke to CNYBJ on April 6 from his home office in the Buffalo suburb of East Aurora. Five Star Urgent Care leases its space at the Town Square Mall from Jesse McInerney of Win Preferred Vestal, LLC. McInerney is the managing partner of Win Development, LLC, according to his LinkedIn page. The firm is based in Belleair Beach, Florida.
DeWitt–based Westlake Development LLC served as the contractor on the project, according to Five Star Urgent Care. When asked about the cost to open the new Five Star location, Radford spoke in general terms, noting that it costs about $1 million to launch a new urgent-care location. And if it involves new construction, that prices usually doubles, he adds.
Five Star locations usually begin with between 10 and 12 employees, a figure that increases as the office becomes more established and sees increased patient visits. The employees include physicians, physician assistants, nurses, and X-ray technicians.
Aspen Dental Support
One of Five Star’s neighbors at Town Square Mall is Aspen Dental, which Radford says is a “sister company” for Five Star Urgent Care. “Aspen Dental is relocating into this space, so they knew that this space was available, next to the Aspen Dental,” he says. Five Star has been working with Aspen Dental since June 2016. “We have similar financial groups that back both of the organizations,” says Radford, who declined to name the groups.
Once it became evident that Five Star had a “successful platform,” Aspen Dental and its financial backers expressed an interest in “doing something together.” Five Star was “excited” about the opportunity as it could “certainly leverage Aspen’s experience and some of their infrastructural support,” according to Radford. And with plans to open additional locations, Radford was happy to have the backing. “You get to that certain level, and you really need additional sources of funding and additional support to do it properly,” he says.
The partnership will also allow Five Star to progress from a few locations per year to between 10 and 15 annually, according to Radford. Five Star also shares some office space with Aspen Dental Management Co. in DeWitt. Five Star’s billing company operates in Ellicottville in Erie County. Five Star plans to open locations in Plattsburgh, Oneonta, and Geneva by the end of June. Its website also indicates plans to open offices in Oswego, Oneida, Auburn, as well as the Rochester and Buffalo areas.
Five Star entered the Syracuse market in May 2013 when it opened a new facility on Route 11 in Cicero. Besides Vestal and Cicero, it also operates offices in Clay, the Fairmount area of Camillus, Fayetteville, Ithaca, Big Flats, and Jamestown.
As of now, the company has no “imminent plans” to open a location in the New York City or Long Island area, but “that may change.”
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com
