At 90 days after opening Helms Healthcare in Vincent, Dr. Rock Helms could see his business plan was working. Be a good listener and deliver personal, quality healthcare like days gone by, and patients will follow.
One thousand patients three months later are testament to that.
It didn’t stop there. At the eight-month mark and approaching 2,000 patients, Helms announced that he will be opening a second location in his hometown of Pell City.
Targeting May 1, 2026, Helms Healthcare plans to open the new location near the industrial park at Comer Avenue and John Haynes Drive. Helms is renovating an existing building to accommodate the medical offices, an imaging center and infusion suites.
The 7,500-square-foot building is space he said is going to be developed into “really nice” state-of-the-art imaging center with a cutting-edge CT scan capable of a comprehensive range of diagnostics for coronary cardiovascular risk.
Cardiac imaging of this caliber will be able to serve certain patients for precision cardiovascular screening, which may not be covered by insurance. But, Helms predicts by 2030 in the healthcare industry, it will be standard and covered. “The fact that we’re going ahead now tells you just how good the technology is.”
The new clinic will offer extended hours for urgent care and a full-service lab. They are adding new staff – CT technician, laboratory technician, ultrasound technician and more office and support staff.
At present, the Vincent clinic is led by Helms with the assistance of three certified nurse practitioners.
Helms will divide his time between the Vincent and Pell City clinics, but plans call for the physician roster to increase to meet the needs. “We expect to quickly grow providers over the next 24 months,” he said.
The decision to return to Pell City with a significant presence was guided by his ties to his hometown. Pell City, he said, has “excellent healthcare with multiple services available. It is my community, and I want to maintain that level of care and build on it.”
While he acknowledges the tremendous strides made with Helms Healthcare since its inception only eight months ago, he stressed that it was not a solo effort. It came from “the Lord and good work of good people.”
As for returning the practice of medicine to days gone by, he said Helms Healthcare will continue this path of care. “When you call, a person answers the phone. They’re happy to see you. They care. All those things are really important.”
He expects Helms Healthcare to “continue to grow and be marked by excellence and doing it in a loving, old fashioned way. I don’t want that to go away.”
In 2001, Helms founded Northside Medical Associates in Pell City, beginning with only a handful of providers and staff. He grew it into an expansive campus of medical facilities, a pharmacy, urgent care and multiple specialties and locations in other communities with over 200 employees.
After selling the practice and fulfilling contract commitments, he founded Helms Healthcare in Vincent.
