ROCKLAND — In what is a major expansion of health care in Knox County, Pen Bay Medical Center will open its new Walk-In Care practice in Rockland next week.

PBMC Walk-In Care will be located at 22 White St., in the Bok Building, which sits just behind the Rockland Public Library. Beginning Tuesday, July 6, it will be open every day from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. except for Wednesdays, when it will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Patients can walk-in or make an appointment by calling 301-6000.

Walk-In Care is especially useful for people who do not have primary care providers or who cannot access their provider’s office due to time of day or other factors. In addition, Walk-In Care will provide needed services to visitors to our area who do not have a local primary care provider.

PBMC Walk-In Care can treat patients with non-life threatening injuries and illnesses that do not require an emergency department visit. These include burns, bruises, sprains, tick bites and urinary tract infections, among many other conditions. For more information about what conditions can be treated at Walk-In Care, go to the PBMC website at www.pbmc.org/walkin.

PBMC Walk-In Care is being led by Kendra Emery, DO. She also leads the hospital’s effort to confront the opioid crisis in Knox County.

“Our community has told us that it needs faster and more affordable access to health care for things like sick-visits and minor injuries like sprained ankles,” said Dr. Emery, in a PBMC news release. “PBMC Walk-In Care is a convenient way to deliver that service.”

The opening of PBMC Walk-In Care is part of a larger series of major investments that PBMC, Waldo County General Hospital (WCGH) and MaineHealth are making to improve the community’s access to high quality health care close to home. PBMC recently embarked on a major $9 million expansion of its Emergency Department and is also is preparing a space in the Radiology Department for a state-of-the-art MRI machine that will arrive later in the year. Last year, PBMC opened its new Health Center, which brought together under one roof most of its primary care practices.

A similar round of investments at WCGH in recent years included a full renovation of its Emergency Department in 2018 and culminated with the opening of WCGH Walk-In Care late last year.

PBMC Walk-In Care will also provide COVID-19 testing. Those with COVID-19 symptoms should first call their primary care provider, according to the release. If they do not have a provider, they should call Walk-In Care at 301-6000 to be screened. If a test is recommended, they will be scheduled for a testing appointment. Walk-In Care will not provide COVID-19 tests without an appointment.

Pen Bay Medical Center is part of MaineHealth, a not-for-profit integrated health system consisting of nine local hospital systems, a comprehensive behavioral healthcare network, diagnostic services, home health agencies, and more than 1,600 employed and independent physicians working together through an Accountable Care Organization. With more than 19,000 employees, MaineHealth is the largest health system in northern New England and provides preventive care, diagnosis and treatment to 1.1 million residents in Maine and New Hampshire. For more information, please visit pbmc.org.