Helms Healthcare has announced plans for a second location coming to Pell City this Spring. The announcement comes as the new healthcare clinic approaches the one-year mark since opening in Vincent.
The clinic has grown rapidly under the leadership of its founder, Dr. Rock Helms, whose vision was to return healthcare to days gone by when providers built strong, trusting relationships with their patients.
If the burgeoning patient roster is any indication, his strategy is working. Patients have topped the 2,000-mark in only nine months.
After selling Northside Medical Associates, the practice he founded, to Complete Health in 2020 and fulfilling contractual obligations, he located the first clinic in Vincent in March of this year.
He plans to return to his hometown of Pell City, but he will spit time between the two clinics. Both will be fully staffed, and more providers are expected to come on board.
The new clinic will be going into a 7,500 square foot facility being totally renovated at 1310 WA Goodgame Parkway. It is projected to open to patient care by May 1, 2026. A second provider will join Helms Healthcare in Pell City on the opening date.
At present, the provider team, headed by Helms, has three certified nurse practitioners. “We expect to quickly grow providers over the next 24 months,” he said.
Plans call for adding Urgent Care with extended hours by summer and another one or two providers in the fall.
The ancillary center should open one month prior to the patient’s clinic area and will feature a full lab, phlebotomy area, x-ray, ultrasound and CT as well as an infusion suite.
His decision to expand to Pell City came about because of his personal ties to the city. He grew up there, he practiced medicine there, and while it has “excellent healthcare with multiple services available,” he wanted to return to his home community, maintain and build upon that level of care.
Helms has “great expectations” for the Pell City location. Registration for new patients at the Pell City location will open in March.
He continues to stress the value in building relationships with patients, where they are not a number. “When you call, a person answers the phone. They’re happy to see you. They care. All those things are really important.”
