1. Saint Mary’s Physician Services will close its clinic in Atkins, Ark., on Dec. 19. One of the physicians at the Millard-Henry Clinic of Atkins, family medicine physician Timothy Johnson, MD, will be leaving the clinic for an administrative position with the state of Arkansas. The clinic’s other provider, Jennifer Jacobs, APRN, will be relocating to the practice’s clinic in Dover, Ark.
2. Patients at a Chicago location of San Francisco-based Forward are unable to access medical records after the healthcare startup, known for its AI-driven “doctor-in-a-box” service, announced its closure.
The shutdown comes a year after Forward raised $100 million in a series E funding round. Founded in 2017, Forward initially positioned itself as a primary care concierge medicine service. However, it later shifted to offering “CarePods” — self-service health stations where patients could perform tasks like taking their own blood samples, sequencing DNA and testing for illnesses like COVID-19, all without interacting with a healthcare provider.
3. The Portland (Ore.) Clinic will be closing all patient care and clinical services at its downtown location in mid-December, ongoing safety concerns for staff and clients. The medical chain will shutter patient care at its downtown office, citing crime concerns in the area. Providers and patients will be relocated to its other five neighborhood locations in the Portland metropolitan area.
The downtown building will house administration, scheduling and supply chain, with around 100 employees at the location each day, a spokesperson for the clinic told Becker’s.
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