Blount County, TN, is in Good Health

Blount County residents have access to care — at any time they need it.

By Livability on November 18, 2022

Blount Memorial Hospital

There is no place like home when you don’t feel well, and residents of Blount County are fortunate to have 13 regional hospitals, urgent care centers and expanded pediatric services nearby.

75 Years of Quality Health Care

Providing trusted health care to East Tennessee residents for 75 years, Blount Memorial Hospital is a fully accredited, comprehensive short-term, 304-bed acute care facility and is a member of the Mayo Clinic Care Network. Only a select group of independent health systems are granted special access to the Mayo Clinic Care Network’s extensive knowledge and world-leading medical expertise.  

The Mayo Clinic was named by Newsweek in 2022 as the No. 1 hospital in the world — not a first for the health care company.

As a member, local physicians can participate in information-sharing and integrated care, benefiting their patients at no additional cost.

East Tennessee Children’s Hospital

Pediatric Care Close to Home

The Knoxville-based East Tennessee Children’s Hospital, a 152-bed pediatric hospital, is now in its 85th year of serving patients from birth through age 21 with family-centered medical care. In addition, the hospital recently opened its fourth urgent care center — East Tennessee Children’s Hospital Urgent Care – Blount — in Alcoa. The clinic is designed to meet the needs of pediatric patients that are urgent but not emergent, closer to home.

Board-certified pediatricians can see youngsters for minor accidents or illnesses on nights, weekends and hours when their pediatricians’ offices are typically closed — the clinic is open until 11 p.m. Plans also include using the site for an outpatient clinic for more specialized services.

Another new face on the health care front is the newly opened Fast Pace Health Urgent Care in Maryville. The company began in 2009 with one clinic in Collinwood, Tennessee. However, it has expanded to more than 180 locations in five states near where rural residents live and work.

Neil Crosby

The local Fast Pace facility provides walk-in urgent care, primary annual wellness exams, X-ray and laboratory services, Department of Transportation physicals, and virtual appointments for behavioral and telehealth needs.

“Maryville is my home, and I am proud to serve the medical needs of the people in my community. I chose to work with Fast Pace because they are focused on providing quality, convenient and compassionate patient-centered care to underserved rural communities. I share that vision,” says Ammie Webb, family nurse practitioner and Maryville Fast Pace Urgent Care clinic director. “Traditionally, we are in areas that otherwise would not have health services within many miles. We are also very honored to provide quality care to our nation’s veterans, who are enrolled in the VA health care system and sacrificed so much for each of us.”

Local Health Warrior

Maryville resident Dr. Jennifer Winbigler is a busy wife, mother of three active boys, COVID-19 researcher, volunteer and physician — a hospitalist at Blount Memorial Hospital — with a passion for helping others. From hundreds of nominations, Winbigler was selected as WATETV’s Remarkable Woman of Knoxville 2022 and recently was named the 2022 University of Tennessee Alumni Promise Award recipient.

During the height of the pandemic, she and her husband, Brian, a pharmacist and assistant professor at the University of Tennessee, used $5,000 of their own money to purchase COVID-19 diagnostic tests and arranged a 24-hour turnaround for results from a local lab — at no charge for area teachers who needed a negative test to return to the classroom, helping to keep schools safe and open. Additionally, the couple owns Winbigler Medical, a mobile medical practice in Maryville.