By Kirk Kern
Dr. Bret Heerema and Physician Assistant Benjamin McGarvey met while both serving in the U.S. Air Force and working in Las Vegas at a military hospital. Eventually they both moved on to different posts before returning to Las Vegas. Upon retiring from the military, the two decided to start their own medical care facility.
They recently opened Valor Direct Primary Care, a unique membership-based direct primary care practice located in the Skye Canyon Marketplace.
“After a career of service to the military, I still wanted to be of service to patients,” Heerema said. “But do it in a way that puts the patient first.”
Putting the patient first means limiting the practice to only 600 members, with unlimited visits with no copay and providing primary and urgent care needs. They can also offer same-day or next-day appointments.
“I am incredibly frustrated with how our society has become ‘OK’ with allowing health insurance agencies to dictate medical decision making,” McGarvey said. “When I learned about direct primary care, I was immediately drawn to the simplicity of a doctor, physician assistant or nurse practitioner being able to spend more time with less patients and ultimately deliver better care.”
They chose Skye Canyon because there aren’t any other direct primary care practices in the northwest valley.
“We wanted to bring our practice to our patients,” McGarvey said. “This area is growing and our community deserves great medical care in close proximity”
According to an article published in Medical Economics, direct primary care membership are seeing an average annual growth of 36 percent, reaching a total growth rate of 241 percent from 2017-2021.
McGarvey said a typical medical provider has between 1,250 to 1,500 patients enrolled to them. They spend an average of eight minutes face-to-face with each of the 20 or more patients on their daily schedule.
“We all know how difficult the process of seeing your medical provider is,” McGarvey said. “They’re booked out for months.”
At Valor Direct Primary Care, the doctor and physician assistant will share the maximum 600 patients, allowing them to offer their full attention and time to each of its members. The practice offers a variety of services, including preventive care, chronic disease management, on-site medications tailored to its patients and minor procedures. They can also offer telemedicine appointments for added convenience.
Members also get access to specialists contracted by Valor Direct Primary Care with inexpensive cash prices. These include local laboratories and imaging centers.
Here is an example of how the practice works.
McGarvey said a member cuts their finger while rushing to make a later dinner. They text the provider at 8 p.m. asking for advice. The provider has the patient text a photo of the wound. If the wound is small enough, the provider tells them how to clean and dress the wound until they can see the patient when they open in the morning.
However, if the wound requires sutures, then the provider will leave his home, open the clinic and the patient will meet them there 20 minutes after the cut occurs. The wound is cleaned, sutured and dressed right away. The patient is in and out, with no wait, no copay and no insurance bill.
“We take care of our patients like we would want someone to take care of our loved ones,” McGarvey said. “We’re not concierge and not available 24/7. But we always do our best to take care of our members.”