Boston, MA
For-profit urgent care clinic proposed in South Boston sparks concern from officials
Elected officials from South Boston say they are against a for-profit urgent care company looking to set up shop a block away from the nonprofit South Boston Community Health Center, a proposal that they fear could harm residents who rely on the existing center.
American Family Care, one of the largest urgent care center operators in the country, has its eyes on bringing a clinic to 457-469A West Broadway, just up the road from the existing community health center which averages 70,000 visits a year.
The close proximity between the two “has the potential to jeopardize the financial stability of South Boston Community Health Center,” City Councilor Ed Flynn said last week before the council approved his order for a hearing on how for-profit health care centers impact nonprofits.
Exact details on what’s being proposed were not immediately available. The city Zoning Board of Appeals is set to hold a hearing on American Family Care’s request on Wednesday.
While urgent care centers provide walk-in services for patients experiencing non-emergency medical issues such as small injuries and minor infections, some of them are for-profit, Flynn said. That means the businesses rely on “investments from private equity firms and venture capital funds,” he wrote in his hearing order.
“Urgent care centers can be attractive investments because they do not have the legal obligations to treat patients if they do not have the ability to pay, unlike emergency departments,” the hearing order states.
But at the same time, Flynn said, more for-profit urgent care centers are popping up across the city, with some being located near nonprofit community health care centers, threatening their “financial viability.”
“Let me be clear, I don’t want to see cuts to programs, services and staff at any of these beloved community health care centers,” Flynn said. “As similar to other development issues, this may be the first shoe to drop in South Boston but it could happen in many of the other neighborhoods across the city.”
American Family Care operates more than 200 facilities across 26 states, treating nearly 3 million patients a year, according to its company website. It looks to have more than 500 clinics nationwide in the next five years.
The company says it is different from other urgent care clinics because it provides “digital X-rays, state-of-the-art diagnostic procedures, electronic medical record keeping,” among other services.
City Councilor At-Large Erin Murphy echoed Flynn’s concerns and said there has been a lack of information about the proposal. She highlighted how the existing community health center partners with city hospitals and how it distributed 35,000 vaccines and tested 14,000 people for COVID-19 during the pandemic.
“I am deeply concerned that the South Boston Community Health Center, as a non-profit, will be at a financial disadvantage on the unequal footing of AFC’s for-profit status,” she said, “and the manifold good the Health Center achieves should not be undermined because of this.”
State Sen. Nick Collins, speaking to the Herald, compared the potential impacts the for-profit urgent care clinic could have on South Boston Community Health Center to the financial crisis plaguing Steward Health Care System.
Steward, the largest private for-profit healthcare network in the country, reportedly considered closing four of its nine Massachusetts hospitals due to its dire financial state. The Dallas-based system allegedly owes $50 million in unpaid rent and is the subject of more than a dozen lawsuits in Massachusetts filed by vendors and employees over unpaid invoices since 2022.
But the company’s executive vice president wrote in a Friday letter to employees that the system has secured a “significant financial transaction” that he says will “help stabilize” the company and save some of its Bay State hospitals from shuttering.
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Gray, acquired in a November trade from the St. Louis Cardinals, was one of Boston’s key rotation additions, along with Ranger Suarez, in the offseason. He was 14-8 with a 4.28 ERA in 2025.
“He’s very specific about his work. Every day has a purpose,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said of Gray. “Two hundred strikeouts, that’s something that we were looking for. The competitor. Every five days, this guy is going to give you everything.”
In his five career appearances against the Reds, Gray is 1-3 with a 4.18 ERA.
“It’s pretty much one of the only things that is continuing to push me, is to get to a World Series, to win a World Series, to pitch in big games,” said Gray. “I love the moment, and I am chasing that moment.”
Here’s the preview:
RED SOX (1-0): TBA
Pitching: RHP Sonny Gray
REDS (0-1): TBA
Pitching: RHP Brady Singer
Time: 4:10 p.m.
TV, radio: NESN, WEEI-FM 93.7
Red Sox vs. Singer: Wilyer Abreu 2-5, Roman Anthony 1-2, Willson Contreras 2-7, Jarren Duran 3-10, Caleb Durbin 0-1, Isiah Kiner-Falefa 6-16, Marcelo Mayer 0-1, Andruw Monasterio 1-4, Carlos Narváez 1-1, Ceddanne Rafaela 1-5, Trevor Story 0-4, Connor Wong 2-8, Masataka Yoshida 2-7
Reds vs. Gray: Will Benson 0-5, Elly De La Cruz 5-11, TJ Friedl 1-8, Ke’Bryan Hayes 4-17, Nathaniel Lowe 2-10, Noelvi Marte 0-5, Matt McLain 2-2, Spencer Steer 4-9, Tyler Stephenson 0-8, Eugenio Suárez 7-13, Jose Trevino 0-2
Stat of the day: Sal Stewart become the first Cincinnati rookie since 1958 to record three hits on Opening Day.
Notes: Cincinnati sends righthander Brady Singer (14-12, 4.03 in 2025) to the mound … With Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo already on the injured list to start the season, Singer is considered one of Cincinnati’s most durable pitchers, leading the Reds with 32 starts last season … Singer has made five career starts against Boston, posting a 2-2 record with a 4.88 ERA over 24 innings … His last appearance against the Red Sox, on July 1 in Boston, ended after just three innings when he allowed two earned runs on three hits.
Cam Kerry can be reached at cam.kerry@globe.com.
Nearly three months since assuming office as mayor of Everett, Massachusetts, Mayor Robert Van Campen isn’t wasting any time.
The former city councilor ousted 18-year incumbent Carlo DeMaria in decisive fashion last November, but even so, issues surrounding his predecessor still linger at City Hall.
A state-led salary audit of DeMaria found $180,000 in overpayment, a finding the former mayor disputes. Van Campen says the city is monitoring ongoing investigations.
“What I’ve conveyed to my partners in government here, locally, is to allow that state process to play itself out, and then we, as a community, will make a decision,” the mayor said. “In addition to that, I recently met with Inspector General Jeff Shapiro, who visited me at City Hall. We had a great conversation about transparency in government, best practices, putting in the right systems to ensure that that type of financial oversight doesn’t happen in the future.”
Beyond the audit, Van Campen is placing emphasis on school overcrowding.
“My objective is to try to implement solutions as quickly as I can,” he said. “Our high school today, which was built for I think 1,650 students, now houses around 2,200.”
The World Cup is creating buzz across Massachusetts, including in Everett, where the Kraft Group is looking to build a soccer stadium.
To alleviate that problem, the mayor is using federal ARPA funds to repair the old Everett High School and seeking out other spaces that could be used in the future.
“Would I like to build out new classroom space for the students of Everett in the next one to two years? Yes, that’s my ideal,” Van Campen said. “But I want to make sure that if we do it on a quick timeline, it’s done in a correct and proper fashion.”
Also in focus for the mayor is a new soccer stadium for the New England Revolution on the shores of the Mystic River.
The Kraft Group, Boston, Everett and the state Legislature have all taken steps to make the project a reality, but Van Campen says there’s still more work to do.
“It’s a transformative project, it’s a breathtaking project,” said Van Campen. “But I’ve been clear with all the stakeholders around that project, and the other larger developments going on down there, that we have to make sure that transit issues are comprehensively addressed, that pedestrian access issues are comprehensively addressed, that all those issues have to be addressed to perfection in order for these projects to succeed.”
Tune in on Sunday, March 29 at 9:30 a.m. for our extended @Issue Sit Down with Van Campen.
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