Urgent Care Centers in Utica-Area to Merge

Two separate urgent care providers in the Utica-area will be merging soon.

That's according to employees at Primary Urgent Care, who say employees of the facility were informed of the merger on Monday night during a staff meeting. While no official date was announced, employees told WIBX that Primary Urgent Care management informed them that they had been 'bought out' and would be merging with WellNow Urgent Care.

WIBX reached out for comment to officials from both Primary Urgent Care and Well Now, but as of this posting neither had responded. Employees we spoke to from Primary Urgent Care said they were assured that staffing levels would not be changing. It was unclear if Primary Urgent Care's locations would remain open.

Staff were told they'd learn more about the pending purchase or merger at another meeting scheduled for later this week.

Primary Urgent Care touts itself as a locally owned and operated medical provider with two locations - 1904 Genesee Street in South Utica, and 130 West Albany Street in Herkimer.

Meanwhile, WellNow Urgent Care operates over 100 locations in five states including New York. They have more than 60 locations in the Empire State, including several dotted across central New York, including Utica, Rome, New Hartford and Dewitt, along with more in the Syracuse area.

WellNow began in 2011 when it was founded by Dr. John Radford as Five Star Urgent Care, according to their website. They rebranded in 2018 as WellNow, according to their website.