MISSION FIRST MEDICAL, a new walk-in clinic at 917 W. Broadway in West Plains focuses on providing affordable, quick, quality medical care to people with high insurance copays or no insurance. The clinic’s health providers are, from left: Dr. Mary Pendergrass, Family Nurse Practitioner Suzanne Huddleston and Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Ashlee Smith.
A new health clinic in West Plains is offering walk-in service with upfront pricing for uninsured customers and those with high insurance copays, with a focus on providing quick, affordable care.
“All of our pricing is upfront, meaning no unexpected costs, and we focus on keeping wait times to a minimum,” said Mission First Medical owner Suzanne Huddleston. Huddleston is a nurse practitioner with over 15 years of medical experience.
She opened the clinic earlier this month at 917 W. Broadway, across the street from Donut Palace, and is partnering with Dr. Mary Pendergrass, who specializes in family medicine, pediatrics and osteopathic manipulation, and Ashlee Smith, a pediatric nurse practitioner who also provides in-home visits to pediatric patients.
Huddleston said one of her main focuses in starting the clinic was keeping it simple and affordable.
“It’s $60 for an office visit, plus the pricing for all of our services is upfront, so you’ll know exactly how much it’s going to cost,” she said.
She explained she is able to keep her costs low because she works with different medical suppliers to find the best price and only charges what she feels is a fair price.
“It’s not my focus to make tons of money, but to provide affordable, quality care to the community,” Huddleston said.
For example, according to the clinic’s pricing, dressing and treatment of a minor burn is $15, a flu test is $25 and stitches for cuts are $60 minimum, depending on the size of the suture needed. The prices are in addition to the $60 charge for the office visit.
Huddleston added that the clinic also offers sports physicals for $30, with no additional office visit fee.
“We also offer COVID-19 testing as well,” she said, adding that both antibody testing and the nasal swab test to confirm an active infection are available. Both tests have to be sent out to a lab for results and the patient is billed for it later; however, according to Huddleston, insured patients can likely pay nothing to take the tests.
Because the clinic prioritizes quality care and quick service, Huddleston pointed out, no appointments are necessary during office hours.
“If your child has an ear infection and is in pain, we can see them a lot quicker, usually, than if you were to take them to the ER, where they could wait for 30 minutes or more before being seen,” she said.
If visitors do have to wait, she said the clinic’s waiting room offers complimentary coffee and tea.
Owning her own clinic is something Huddleston said she had wanted to do for a long time, but it wasn’t until September when she really began to pursue the idea.
“We put this together pretty fast and I had to take a leap of faith,” she said. “I just love our community and I want to serve it with a purpose and a vision and bring mission service to West Plains.”
Mission First Clinic’s office hours, starting Jan. 16, are noon to 8 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays; 5 to 8 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays; and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays.
Huddleston and her partners do make appointments outside of business hours, within reason, she said. She also said that the clinic cannot take Medicaid or Medicare.
For more information call 204-4450 or visit www.missionfirstmedical.com.
