Doctor John Wilson’s new concierge medical practice at the Mad River Valley Health Center in Waitsfield will be called Mad River Health. He will be accepting 400 patients who subscribe to the service when it opens in October. Later he will expand the practice to 600 patients.
Mad River Family practice will be closing at the end of the day on September 26 and will begin seeing patients at its new Waterbury location in October.
Wilson, who has been with Mad River Family Practice for six years, said that the new practice is affiliated with MDVIP, (MD Value In Prevention), an entity that helps doctors set up small, private practices.
“I’m affiliated with MDVIP for business/legal support. They don’t manage how I schedule or take care of patients. There’s no way I could start without their help – they are helping me with malpractice insurance rates, EHR through their relationship with Athena, and helping me credential with the Vermont insurance payors and also providing legal support.
Wilson said it’s a daunting task to open a medical practice.
If I were to start, on my own, it would be a mountain to climb. MDVIP is making the climb a little easier,” he added.
MDVIP media relations director Nancy Udell said that the annual subscription cost for the practice is $2,500.
She said that the smaller practice, limited to 600 patients means MDVIP-affiliated doctors can spend more time with patients on acute issues, but also offering more proactive and preventive care.
MDVIP was founded in 2000 and is a national network of over 1,400 affiliated primary care physicians and 400,000 members. MDVIP doctors are typically reachable via cellphone 24/7. Udell said that there is reciprocity for patients who visit or travel to another state and need to see a physician in an urgent or emergent care situation.
Central Vermont Medical Center, which had run Mad River Family Practice in Waitsfield, announced plans to close the practice in the 2024, moving it to Waterbury and also closing the CVMC physical/occupational therapy offices in Waitsfield.
CVMC purchased the medical practice from longtime physician Fran Cook in 2016 when he retired. The local health center was built with a combination of grants, public and private donations, loans and sweat equity in the mid-2000s when Cook’s practice was housed there along with other health care providers on the second floor.
