FastMed Urgent Care Hopes to Break Through in China

FastMed Urgent Care has made an ambitious, intercontinental leap by opening its first urgent care location in China—the first such move by any U.S.-based urgent care operator. Sami Elbadramany, executive vice president of FastMed, says the company is betting that China’s efforts to transform its healthcare system by providing broader access to more of its citizens will dovetail nicely with the urgent care model. Its first location sits in the Pudong New District in Shanghai, but FastMed plans to continue expanding throughout the city and East China and ultimately across the entire country. The company is partnering with a pair of experienced players already working to update China’s healthcare landscape; Yosemite Clinic, a pioneer in the ambulatory surgical center setting, and Pacific Springboard, which has been working to bring other U.S.-based “healthy lifestyle” brands into China.