Leading US Physician Joins ConvenientMD Staff

Windham's new urgent care facility, which has plans to open its doors to the public on Dec. 5, has signed on a big ticket physician to head up its staff.

Dr. Jeff Collins, who has served as Medical Director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Urgent Care Center in Chelsea since 2001, will hold the same position at ConvenientMD.

Collins is recognized for his leadership in the urgent care field and his medical research on urgent care practices.

"I'm awfully excited," Collins said of his leap to Windham. "It's a wonderful community. I think ConvenientMD gives people more choices in their healthcare opportunity."

Collins said that urgent care centers are a normal sighting in the southern and midwestern portions of the country, but not so much in this region.

"They are slowly starting to develop in the northeast," he said. "I think it's great that New Hampshire is going to be a leader in this."

On a national scale, Collins serves as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Urgent Care Foundation and he served on the Board of Directors of the Urgent Care Association of America. He was also a member of the JCAHO/UCAOA Ambulatory Health Standards Applicability Committee that helped set accredidation standards for urgent care centers nationally.

He has served as Medical Director for Mass General's Center for Community Health Improvement in Boston since 2007.

Collins' new commute from his home in Boxford, Mass. will be a bit shorter. He said that his wife has relatives in the area, and he and his family ski up at Ragged Mountain in Danbury, N.H.

Max Puyanic, CEO of ConvenientMD, was thrilled about adding Collins to the staff.

"Having him leave Mass General to come work in Windham is something we have been working on for a long time and we're very proud of him," he said.

Puyanic said that five doctors will be on staff at the facility, with two of them making up the primary group along with Collins.

Dr. Marc Hampers will split time between Dartmouth-Hitchcock, where he has been for nearly two decades, and ConvenientMD.

Also joining will be Dr. Philip J. Voss, who has worked at Exeter Hospital.

Puyanic's business partner, Gareth Dickens, also issued a statement:

Greater Salem's residents can take comfort in knowing that the highest quality medical care will always be available at ConvenientMD when needed.

The Dec. 5 opening will feature an open house from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m.