Our family practice center in Augusta, called the Family Medicine Institute (FMI), is a long established practice serving about 7,600 patients with approximately 25,000 outpatient visits per year. About six family medicine residents from each class practice here, and the clinical faculty based at this site include approximately fifteen physicians, five PA/NPs, and a psychologist.
Located at 15 E. Chestnut Street in Augusta, the FMI is a two-story building with 10 patient exam rooms on the first floor, 24 patient exam rooms on the second floor, a procedure suite, and a dental room. The practice is divided into four patient care teams; a typical care team includes:
- Three medical assistants
- Two licensed nurses
- One patient services representative
- One nurse practitioner or physician assistant
- Three family medicine physicians
- Four to six family medicine residents
The facility has a teaching area/library and an area for patient education, as well as a large conference room that connects us to our hospital and other facilities by interactive TV systems. Our family medicine residents share a large common workspace on the second floor with individual seating areas and computers.
The FMI has extended office hours to accommodate patients who are reluctant to lose time from work, as well as to encourage primary care utilization for acute, non-urgent illness or injury. The general hours of operation are Mon-Thurs 8 AM to 8 PM, Fri 8 AM to 5 PM, and Sat 8:30 AM to noon. An advanced access scheduling system allows patients to be seen within 48 hours of their request.