GoHealth Urgent Care's Boyd Faust is elected to the Urgent Care Association’s Board of Directors
Boyd Faust, chief strategy officer at GoHealth, has been elected to the Board of Directors of the Urgent Care Association. The trade association serves members from more than 4,000 urgent care centers in the United States and abroad.
A leader in the urgent care sector, Faust brings depth of experience and a wealth of expertise to the association as he works to create the next generation of urgent care centers. This includes enhancing the ability of health systems to provide patients with the care they need right in their communities.
“There’s a big push with employers and patients in the U.S. to reduce the total cost of healthcare,” Faust said. “I believe we can do this by making sure patients have greater access to the right level of care at the right time. Urgent care provides care for a non-life-threatening illness or injury that can’t wait for tomorrow but doesn’t require emergency care.”
Faust’s industry expertise dates back to 1998, when he managed his first urgent care center. Over his 35-plus year career, Faust has been a hospital administrator and a healthcare entrepreneur. In 2012 he joined GoHealth’s founding team to launch what has become one of the largest urgent care networks in the U.S. Today, his focus is on developing arrangements with health systems and payors to promote the use of urgent care centers for non-emergency treatment when and where needed.
Faust fosters relationships with payors to educate their members about non-emergent healthcare options in their community. An early introducer and adopter of value-based care to the urgent care industry, he works closely with national and local payors in the communities GoHealth and its partners serve. By encouraging people to visit an urgent care center when appropriate, these initiatives help reduce the demand on emergency departments, which frees these vital facilities to care for the most ill and injured people more quickly. Those with non-life-threatening conditions typically receive care sooner in an urgent care than in an emergency room, and for a lower cost.
“Our goal is to help people recognize the value of developing a relationship with a quality alternative to the emergency room and providing them with an urgent-care home,” Faust said. “When we’re sick or hurt, we all want the best care possible in the shortest possible time. Urgent care centers can provide that.”
More than 78% of people in the United States live within a 10-minute drive to an urgent care center, the Urgent Care Association reported in 2023. At that time, there were more than 14,000 urgent care centers in the U.S., 67% of which were open seven days a week. But 18% of those centers are closed weekends and another 11% closed on Sundays. Many of the centers that are closed on weekend days are not affiliated with a health system, according to the Urgent Care Association.
Meanwhile, GoHealth has partnered with 11 prominent health systems to open centers that are open 365 days a year across more than 280 neighborhoods in 14 states. Faust remains diligent in bringing GoHealth, and the entire sector, forward. In doing so, he is spending time with payors to understand how to best deliver what they and their members need. Faust and GoHealth cultivate relationships with health systems to help guide patients into proper settings of care. This includes understanding and addressing regional needs to better direct resources to develop new partnerships, open additional centers and expand hours to meet the needs of patients where they are.
“Boyd will bring a substantial amount of experience to the Urgent Care Association’s Board of Directors,” said Todd Latz, CEO of GoHealth . “He is focused on enhancing access to lower cost, more accessible care and ensuring that we continue to innovate and demonstrate the substantial value that on-demand care delivers to the broader healthcare ecosystem.”
As the sector evolves, “we’re truly keeping our promise to optimize the opportunities to partner with health systems and payors, and to reduce the total cost of care and improve both access and the patient’s experience. Working collaboratively, we can leverage and learn from each other so we can better serve our customers,” Faust said.