A Family Business, A Consistent Vision

FirstCare Walk-In Medical Center is an urgent care that was designed to have the look and feel of a medical spa. Peaceful, relaxing. Those qualities are important for patients, but may be even more so for staff members, since they’re the ones who spend more than a hundred hours a month on the premises. Furthermore, peaceful and relaxing are even more important when working with family.

FirstCare is located in Highland, N.Y. (about a two-hour drive north of New York City) and is owned by not just two relatives, but three. Herbert Weinman, MD, owns the business with his son and daughter, a physician and a physician’s assistant, respectively. They are all equal partners.

“It is great working with family,” said Stephen Weinman, MD. “There are plenty of arguments, but it would be the same with any partners, I suspect. I think it works because I trust my family unconditionally and know they will all work as hard as I do.”

The business concept these three created has been entwined with nearly every decision they’ve made.

“Our concept was the immediate care center that offers a hotel-style customer service in a beautiful facility that makes the sick or injured patient feel better by just walking in the door,” Stephen Weinman said.

An interior designer used Feng Shui concepts for the reception area, nursing area and treatment rooms to make the areas inviting and non-cluttered. The consumer-driven model isn’t just aesthetic though; the office staff is encouraged to follow the customer-service protocol of a high-end hotel chain including friendly greetings, respectful interactions and timeliness. Cleanliness of the facility is also a priority and several patients have expressed that they appreciate how clean the premises are, Weinman said.

The high-end concept seems to be working.

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