John B. Hamilton, MD, FACEP Premier ER Plus, Waco, Texas

Dr. John Hamilton completed his emergency medicine residency at Loma Linda University Medical Center and is board-certified in emergency medicine.

After moving to Waco, Texas in 2000, Dr. Hamilton became actively involved in medical leadership. Subsequently, he founded and served as president of McLennan County Emergency Physicians and McLennan County Hospitalist Services. While there, he served on numerous committees and as president of the medical staff. Additionally, he has served on many community and regional organizations, including president and board member of the McLennan County Medical Society, Texas Medical Association delegate, McLennan County Medical Education and Research Foundation, Heart of Texas Regional Area Council, and Advocacy Center advisory board.

Through his experience, Dr. Hamilton realized a need for a change in emergency medicine for both the providers and the community. He saw a need for emergency physicians to be able to work in an environment that promoted more time for personalized patient care, as well as an opportunity to be entrepreneurial. For patients, he saw a need to provide an alternative care site that provided fast, high quality, and economical care based on individual patient needs.

Keeping these needs in mind, he ventured out and established Premier ER Plus, which is a comprehensive freestanding emergency center (FEC) and urgent care model – commonly referred to as a hybrid model – that meets the medical needs of both emergencies and minor illnesses/injuries in a patient-centric and cost effective manner. Premier ER Plus opened its Woodway, Texas location in August of 2014, and has secured locations and begun the construction projects for two additional sites in the Central Texas market.

Owning and operating an FEC offers both rewards and challenges. It is rewarding to provide alternative health care that meets both the medical needs and the expectations of the patients and families we serve. It is also rewarding to provide an environment where our staff and physicians can reconnect with their passion for healthcare and provide personalized treatment.

Our challenges are industry wide and center around future legislative and regulatory efforts and payer negotiations in order to sustain operations.

Membership in TAFEC is critically important for leaders of FECs, as it provides a conduit of information related to best practices, legislative updates, and a platform for networking with other owners/operators and vendors. This is a critical time for our industry, and TAFEC provides a framework for developing a unified voice among owners/operators in order to shape our legislation and to educate the communities we serve on the benefits FECs provide.