The Clay station parking deck has ground floor space for offices, shops and restaurants

Atrium Health plans to open an urgent-care center this summer in the parking deck at the Clay Boulevard LYNX Station. The center will meet a growing need for convenient health care in the heart of University City’s light-rail business district, says Bill Leonard, president of Atrium Health University City.

“The University City area is growing, and access to walk-in urgent-care service is underserved in our market,” Leonard said.

Atrium Health operates more than 30 urgent-care facilities throughout the Charlotte region. The centers provide general medical care for minor injuries, illnesses and health exams. Most centers are open 8 am-8 pm seven days a week.

Medical services for residents, students and workers

The new center at the Clay Station parking deck will offer typical urgent-care services of diagnosis, treatment and testing, including X-ray and basic lab services. “With the proximity to so many jobs, we will fully support occupational health efforts in the area,” Leonard said.

People with more severe illnesses and injuries are directed to hospital emergency rooms. Atrium Health University City’s emergency room is the busiest in the Atrium Health system. Leonard said that Atrium Health expects to see a slight decline in those numbers once the urgent-care center opens nearby.

Atrium Health recently signed a 10-year lease for 2,325 square feet of space in the Clay Station parking deck. The deck might seem like an unlikely place for a medical facility. However, along with its 800 parking spaces, the deck includes more than 15,000 square feet of space on the ground floor for offices, shops and restaurants.

Growing regional crossroads

Most important, “The access is just phenomenal,” Leonard said. The urgent-care center will be at the heart of a fast-growing crossroads that will soon bring together the university’s 30,000-plus students, the University Research Park’s tens of thousands of workers, and many thousands of future residents expected along the LYNX line to Center City.

The LYNX operates from about 5 am to about 1 am daily, including trains coming every 7 minutes during rush hour. The nearby intersection of North Tryon Street and W.T. Harris Boulevard is Charlotte’s busiest. I-85 and I-485 have interchanges nearby, and CATS serves the Clay Station deck with four bus routes and an express bus.

Work will start in late 2020 on a new bridge, roadway and two-lane bikeway between University Place and University Research Park.
Simultaneously, several apartment and townhome communities are under development within the Research Park.