Felicia Fortune remembers the moment that became her “why.” During the COVID-19 pandemic, she was working at a clinic in Vestavia Hills, and the clinic was seeing roughly 1,000 patients a week from a pop-up tent outside. A staff member turned to her with a simple request: “We need some chairs.” Fortune looked up and saw a family who had taken an Uber to reach her, standing because there was nowhere to sit.
“That’s my why,” Fortune said.
Courtesy Felicia Fortune
Felicia Fortune is CEO of KidsXpress Urgent Care in Hoover
That same sense of mission is bringing Fortune back to Alabama families with KidsXpress Urgent Care, a new pediatric urgent care clinic opening in late July on Highway 280 at 300 Doug Baker Boulevard. Fortune, a Birmingham native and University of Alabama graduate, co-founded the practice with Regina Vann Williams and Dr. Derrol Dawkins, combining more than 100 years of collective health care experience.
Fortune’s path to pediatric urgent care began with her own family. During a presentation in Orlando, Florida, in 2015, her daughter was injured on a balance bike. Her husband called and left voicemails, but Fortune’s phone had died, and she didn’t realize what had happened until her speech ended. By then, her husband had already taken their daughter to a standard urgent care clinic. Once Fortune learned what had happened, she had him bring their daughter back and searched online for “pediatric urgent care,” finding Night Light Pediatrics nearby. The couple took their daughter there together for the specialty care she needed, a moment that sparked a realization: Alabama had no pediatric urgent care of its own. Fortune helped build one, leading Your Kid’s Urgent Care in Vestavia Hills from 2018-22.
At KidsXpress, families can register online and arrive only when their appointment is ready, skipping the waiting room. The clinic offers on-site lab work and X-rays, with radiology findings typically returned within 20 minutes. Treatment notes are sent directly to a child’s regular pediatrician, preserving continuity of care, Fortune says, which is often missing at standard urgent care clinics.
“We are available when the pediatric offices are closed,” Fortune said. That accessibility, she says, keeps families from facing long wait times and high costs at the emergency room.
KidsXpress treats patients from birth through age 21 for non-life-threatening illnesses and injuries. The clinic will be open Monday through Friday from noon to 8 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., with walk-in and appointment options. They accept most major insurance plans, including Medicaid.
KidsXpress also plans to pilot a school-based telehealth program with three local schools this fall.
“We’re not just building clinics,” Fortune said. “We’re building a pediatric delivery platform… to ensure that all kids receive the right care at the right time.”
For Hoover families, that means one thing: when a child gets sick, there’s finally a place built just for them.
Visit their website, www.kidsxpressuc.com, for more details.