Clinic offers gift cards for health care

Come Dec. 25, many will receive gift cards for purchases of clothes, toys, food and other goods.

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MedExpress, an Evans medical clinic, hopes some will consider giving the gift of health care.

Newly opened this year, MedExpress is offering health care gift cards for its clinic at 400 Town Park Blvd., Suite 300; Family Physicians of Evans, 465 North Belair Road; and Medical Center West Pharmacy, 4106 Columbia Road.

"It's based on the same principles as a gift card you'd get from a department store," said Phil McElhaney, the founder of MedExpress, which treats common illnesses, minor injuries and provides basic health care.

The gift cards can be used for health care, health insurance co-payments and drugstore purchases.

McElhaney said he developed the idea of health care gift cards with the aid of a marketing agency.

Though the gift cards were introduced for the Christmas season, he said his clinic will sell them year-round.

"We're going to start marketing them to large companies that have a high-deductible plan," McElhaney said. "We've had a couple of companies in Augusta who have had us give them presentations on the use of the card."

Companies can give the cards as bonuses or as rewards, he said, and the public may also purchase the cards.

"It doesn't have to be for large companies," McElhaney said. "You can buy your wife a gift card. You can buy your children a gift card. You can buy yourself a gift card and then loan it to someone else who needs it."

The cards can be purchased for any amount and are available at MedExpress. Soon, they will be available online at www.medexpress.net.

For more information, call (706) 364-3292.