CHUBBUCK — Portneuf Medical Center has broken ground on a new urgent care in Chubbuck that will expand its services and offer more healthcare options for the community.

The new urgent care will be built at 230 Bullock St. near Texas Roadhouse. Portneuf Medical Center broke ground on the urgent care on Wednesday, July 9. It is expected to be completed at the beginning of next year.

The ceremony started with Nate Carter, CEO of Portneuf Medical Center, welcoming everyone. He spoke about what this new urgent care will do for the community.

“What this means for the community is that we have more access to high quality healthcare,” Carter said in his remarks.

This urgent care will allow people to receive the healthcare they need at the right time. They will not always have to go to the emergency room when they are in need of care.

“Not everything belongs in the emergency room,” Carter said. “The idea is that we keep the emergency room open and ready for emergencies and traumas and accidents.”

The new urgent care will cost $2.5 million to complete and construction is underway now. It will be about 4,000 square feet.

The project exemplifies the dedication of Portneuf Medical Center’s parent company, Ardent Health, in terms of investing in Southeast Idaho.

“The urgent care really is the tip of the iceberg,” Carter said. “When I say the iceberg, I mean when you come in to see somebody at the urgent care, what that team has behind them is a nationally accredited trauma center. We’ve got the full force of a national healthcare company behind us with Ardent Health.”

Carter expressed gratitude for everyone who came together to make this project possible, especially the staff at the current urgent care at Northgate for all the work they do.

“That is being run and managed so incredibly effectively,” Carter said. “They’re seeing 30 to 50 patients a day. Part of that is the reason why we’re doing a second one.”

Scot Stevens, vice president of physician operations at Ardent, said everyone is thrilled to break ground on this new urgent care.

“Our first site that we opened about 20 months ago, we used that as an opportunity to fine-tune our processes,” Stevens said. “We’re so excited to get this second site open to really serve the community on this side of town.”

Stevens looks forward to having another urgent care in the community because it is an opportunity to help people who live in the area it will be in. It will also help specialists who work for Portneuf Medical Center.

“The reason we have urgent care is when the people come in with broken bones or heart issues, we’re able to send them to our orthopedics and our cardiology providers,” Stevens said. “That creates a continual of care that is important for the community.”

PMC officials are eager for the new urgent care to open its doors so it can start serving the people of Southeast Idaho.

“We’re hoping to have this up and running in the first part of 2026,” Stevens said.