Author: ghadley@partnersmultimedia.com

Veteran healthcare professional opens doors on new Pell City medical practice

Story by Carol Pappas
Photos by Bob Crisp

The grand opening celebration of Helms Healthcare in Pell City was more like a hero’s welcome with an overflow crowd to greet him. After all, Dr. Rock Helms was returning to his hometown where he grew up and began his practice of medicine.

Now, he’s come full circle.

“We are so thankful to be back. We’re thankful for this community,” Helms said, just before he officially cut the ribbon on the second location of Helms Healthcare in May. “This is where I grew up, where I met my childhood sweetheart,” he said, referring to his wife, Jennifer, by his side.

“What a crowd,” observed Councilman Jay Jenkins, speaking on behalf of the city. He said he didn’t think that there was that large of a turnout for a trio of much anticipated grand openings of the shopping center, Longhorn or Olive Garden. “This is a great time for Pell City, welcoming Dr. Rock back to Pell City where he belongs,” he said.

“We are blessed to have him back in this town. Welcome back, Dr. Rock.”

“God has blessed our practice,” Helms told the crowd of well-wishers, noting that once the ribbon was cut, “We’ll get back to the basics of taking care of people.”

Getting back to basics is a common refrain for Helms, who founded Helms Healthcare a year and a half ago and opened the first location in Vincent. In little more than a year, he built it to well over 2,000 patients.

His familiar philosophy centers on building trusting relationships with his patients, listening to their needs and treating them with kindness and compassion. He stresses personal interactions every step of the way – beginning with the phone call, where patients talk to “a real person,” not press a number.

Helms will divide his time between the two clinics. In addition to Helms, providers for the Pell City location will be Nancy McClain, CRNP, Holly Nichols, CRNP, and Kim Buckalew, CRNP and DaKota Nichols, CRNP.

Pell City will have extended hours, and urgent care headed by Dakota Nichols, F-NPC. The Vincent clinic will be led by Jonathan Windham, CRNP.

The Pell City clinic, located at 1310 WA Goodgame Parkway, formerly known as Comer Avenue near the Pell City Industrial Park.

The former Precision building was thoroughly renovated by Goodgame Company and features more than a dozen examination rooms, a spacious waiting room, full lab, ultrasound, Xray and other advanced diagnostics. Cutting-edge technology is found throughout the clinic. And more is on the way.

A separate entrance and waiting area are designated for lab work and imaging studies for ease of access for patients.

Reasoning that quality healthcare should be available when needed, Helms welcomes walk-ins daily with no appointments needed. In addition, he has expanded the Pell City location to include urgent care, which is open seven days a week, to serve the community. Anyone is welcome regardless of whether they are an established patient or not.

Extended hours for the treatment of illness and injuries for pediatric and adult care are Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; and Sunday, 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.

With patients’ best interest at the forefront of any planning, Helms has a record of building thriving practices. He founded a major medical practice in Pell City 25 years ago, growing it from a few providers and staff to over 200 employees and a sprawling campus of medical facilities, a pharmacy, urgent care and multiple specialties. There were locations in other communities, too.

In March of 2025, he opened offices to patients with his return to private practice in Vincent.

And by the first week of May this year, Dr. Rock Helms stood in the large waiting room of a brand-new clinic in his name in Pell City, adding another location for delivering medical care to patients both new and old.

Friday, May 1, was the day to celebrate the opening of Helms Healthcare in Pell City — and it was a day for happy reunions, too. Helms made his way through the crowd of friends and patients waiting to have their personal welcomes and “hellos,” his smile never fading.

“I love everything about him,” said 15-year patient Mary Jane Bishop. “His compassion, and his love for his patients.”

Bishop was one of many who came to the new offices located at 1310 Goodgame Parkway for the official welcome and grand opening.

With the celebrations done, Helms began seeing patients at the clinic the following Monday. The 7,500-square-foot facility provides full lab services, a phlebotomy area, X-ray, ultrasound and CT services. It also has an infusion suite.

The Vincent location at 131 Florey Street will remain in full service; there Helms works with a staff of certified nurse practitioners, registered nurses, X-ray technicians, medical assistants, billing and coding professionals and administrative staff. Hours for the Vincent location are Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. with walk-ins taken from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m.

The Pell City hours are from 8 a.m. until 6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, on Saturdays from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. and Sunday, from 1-6 p.m.

By Laura Nation, The St. Clair Times

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.”

As we celebrate the Christmas season, we are proud to announce that our 2000^th patient has been registered in our Vincent location. We are grateful to our patients and our dedicated team for making this achievement possible. This incredible milestone reflects the trust our community of patients has placed in us and our unwavering commitment to delivering compassionate, quality care.

We look forward to continued growth in 2026!

As you try to navigate through Medicare plan choices during open enrollment, we’re here to help. A Medicare broker will be here at Helms Healthcare throughout the month of September to handle any questions you may have.

If you’re unsure about the changes for 2026 and would like information, we are offering five opportunities to schedule a one-on-one session with a Medicare broker to assist with coverage options, how to enroll, timelines, plan comparisons and any other questions you may have.

Sessions will be September 9th, 15th, 23rd, 29th and 30th. They are free and open to all with refreshments provided.

Call 205-612-0582 or 334-596-7653 to schedule an appointment.

As flu season approaches, it’s time for Influenza, COVID-19 and RSV immunizations. We offer all types of preventive medicine Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Call for an appointment at 205-417-1977. Walk-ins are welcome, 8 a.m. – 3 p.m.

COVID-19 hospitalizations during the fall and winter typically peak in late December or early January nationally. Influenza seasons typically peak nationally between December and February each year, but timing within this range is less predictable.

The RSV national peak tends to occur in late December or early January, but peaks have historically varied by Health and Human Services region, with the Southeast U.S. region peaking earlier than North and West U.S. regions.

From Discover The Essence of St. Clair Magazine

Story by Carol Pappas
Submitted Photos

In today’s corporate-driven medical care climate, Pell City’ s Dr. Rock Helms is forging a new path in healthcare for the region by returning to the days of old – ways from which he never wavered.

He opened Helms Healthcare in Vincent in March and in less than 90 days, 1,000 patients had come on board. And they’re still coming.

It has been an ideal match for the tiny town of Vincent, population 2,500, and Helms Healthcare. The town had been without a doctor for 20 years. The closest medical facility was in Harpersville but for the most part, residents traveled to Sylacauga, Birmingham, Pell City and Chelsea for major medical needs, according to Mayor Jim Lattimer.

Helms Healthcare locating a block from the city’s main street has been “a big benefit for everybody,” the mayor said. “He’s part of the community. That’s what we want for every business.”

Helms lauded the efforts of the mayor and council. “I am super appreciative. The city has been amazing. They made it very, very easy to come here, and we owe them a debt of gratitude.”

To make the partnership come to fruition required some investment by the city to prepare. The long vacant building on Florey Street that the city owned needed repair. “We looked at it and saw the potential, but it needed quite a bit of work, and it needed it quickly” if Helms was to open in March.

For complete story, check it out at Discover St. Clair Magazine online Here

Family Medicine is the medical specialty which is concerned with the total health care of the individual and the family. It is the specialty in breadth which integrates the biological, clinical, and behavioral sciences. The scope of family medicine is not limited by age, sex, organ system, or disease entity. Note: The American Osteopathic Board of Family Physicians certification includes extensive use of Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment (OMT), which integrates the biological, clinical, and behavioral sciences. Board certification for Medical Doctors (MDs) is provided by the American Board of Family Medicine. Board certification for Doctors of Osteopathy (DOs) is provided by the American Osteopathic Board of Family Physicians or the American Board of Family Medicine.

https://npidb.org/organizations/allopathic_osteopathic_physicians/family-medicine_207q00000x/1124824446.aspx

In a time when personal attention in medical care may seem like a relic of the past, Dr. Rock Helms sees his new practice – Helms Healthcare – as reconnecting the patient and the doctor and employing modern advances to enhance the whole experience.

The longtime Pell City family medicine physician opened Helms Healthcare in nearby Vincent in late-March, offering “a concierge-type practice for everybody,”  he said. “When you call, you get a human. When you want to be seen, you can be seen right away. We prefer appointments, but it’s not a mandate.”

For the complete story, check out Discover St. Clair Magazine: https://discoverstclair.com/st-clair-business/helms-healthcare/

The physician opening the clinic has provided medical services to Pell City residents for over 20 years.

You can preview the article on the Business Journals Website: https://www.bizjournals.com/birmingham/news/2025/04/02/helms-healthcare-vincent-concierge-clinic.html