Primary care is now more available to mid-Missourians through the opening of MU Health Care’s Family Medicine clinic in Ashland.
MU Health Care and the Southern Boone Chamber of Commerce celebrated the opening of the new 3,790-square-foot clinic with a ribbon-cutting ceremony in August.
The new facility, located in the Redtail Professional Building, 101 Redtail Drive, Suite C, features seven exam rooms and a lab for basic testing for problems like strep throat and urinary tract infections. Luke Stephens, MD, MSPH, a family physician at MU Health Care, leads a team of providers at the clinic that includes a nurse practitioner, a licensed practical nurse and a patient service representative.
“As primary care providers, I and my colleagues know that good access to primary care can help us live longer, feel better and avoid disability and long absences from work,” Stephens said. “By focusing on patient-centered care, we are improving access when we make health services available within our more rural communities.”
Before returning to MU, Stephens worked at Advocate Illinois Masonic Hospital and Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Chicago.
“I’m really excited to be back in Missouri,” Stephens said. “I grew up on a farm in Stoutland, which is south of the Lake of the Ozarks, and received my master’s degree, medical degree and resident training from MU. So this feels like I’m home. It’s a privilege to be able to serve my community.”
Stephens is a fellowship-trained, board-certified family physician at MU Health Care and assistant professor of family and community medicine at the MU School of Medicine.
“This feels like I’m home. It’s a privilege to be able to serve my community.” – Luke Stephens, MD
MU Health Care family physicians provide high quality, patient-centered care to a diverse patient population that includes pregnant women, children, adults and the elderly. MU Health Care family medicine serves mid-Missourians through approximately 160,000 outpatient visits each year.
