PEA RIDGE (KFSM) -- The new Mercy Clinic is scheduled to open Thursday morning in Pea Ridge and some in town are excited to have something so close.
In the past, residents like Ronnie Foster would have to travel to Rogers or Lowell just to see a doctor.
Now all it takes is a few minutes and patients can be in a waiting room before seeing Dr. Matthew Jennings at the new facility.
Foster said he is excited about this new location on Carr Street and plans to check it out.
Others like William Bintliff are just happy to have another option.
“Our city is growing faster and faster and its good to have something there that you can get in quick," Bintliff said. "For instance if my doctor may be two weeks behind and I have something that’s fairly emergent but doesn’t need the ER, fantastic. We have that there now.”
For a while now, Jennings has been working a facility in Rogers.
While there he said he has seen patients who had to drive in from Pea Ridge.
He said so far he has heard nothing but excitement from those patients and now he has a full plate of patients ready for Thursday morning.
“What’s exciting to see is you open your doors for the first couple of days and the first couple of weeks to see people really taking advantage of the new clinic out here and seeing the schedule full," Jennings said.
Jennings is the only health care provider at the facility right now.
Out of the 14 exam rooms they have, he said he only plans to work out of three.
As the facility sees more patients, Jennings said they plan to add more staff members and open up more of those rooms.
That way they can take care of as many people as they can see.
One thing Jennings asked potential patients is to be patient with them.
The facility opens Thursday morning at 8 a.m. and is located at 200 Carr Street in Pea Ridge.