Alan Ayers, MBA, MAcc
President
Alan Ayers has ~20 years’ experience in strategic planning, business development, clinical operations, sales/marketing and customer service for urgent care, occupational medicine, and primary care facilities.
Currently, Ayers serves as President of Urgent Care Consultants, responsible for helping clients identify and cultivate new revenue streams while supporting the company's strategic growth initiatives. Ayers has consulted with independent, PE-backed, and hospital-affiliated platforms representing well over 1,000 units. He has also served as an expert witness in landlord-tenant litigation involving urgent care.
From 2017 to 2021, Ayers served as Chief Executive Officer of Velocity Urgent Care, a venture of Sentara Healthcare, growing the company from 7 to 15 locations building a complete operating and administrative infrastructure, assembling leadership and management teams, migrating systems, optimizing the staffing model, acquiring the hospital's occ med practice, and implementing a values-based culture. In 2020, Velocity Urgent Care became the leading provider of COVID19 test services in its markets.
A prolific and award-winning writer, Ayers is Senior Editor of The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine (JUCM), and has contributed hundreds of original articles, blog entries and presentations on urgent care-related subjects. In 2018 he was co-author of The Health Care Executives’ Guide to Urgent Care and Freestanding EDs, Second Edition.
Ayers has served as Chief Operating Officer of OhioHealth Urgent Care and spent eight years in executive positions at Concentra including VP of Corporate Development responsible for acquisitions, divestitures, de novos, relocations, and major renovations.
For eight years, Ayers served the Board of Directors of the national Urgent Care Association (UCA), providing expertise and guidance on emerging issues; identifying market and regulatory trends; defining content, planning educational programs, and speaking at industry events. In 2019, he received UCA’s prestigious Lifetime Membership Award.
Ayers graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of North Carolina, has an MBA from the University of Mississippi, and a Masters of Accounting from The Ohio State University graduating first in his class.
Heather Real
Senior Consultant
Heather Real has been helping operators startup their own urgent cares for over 10 years. She has contributed to over 250 rooftop projects all over the country.
Heather entered the urgent care industry as a consulting services assistant and quickly learned the intricacies of the urgent care industry. She leaned on her background in retail business management, client services, and operations optimization to assume primary responsibility for market research, financial planning, and preparing business plans.
Throughout the years, and having contributed to hundreds of unique projects, Heather has become an expert in urgent care development and operations. Today, she guides enthusiastic entrepreneurs through the journey of starting an urgent care, from site selection through financing, build-out, operations set-up and post-opening. She also assists with due diligence projects and provides operational assessments and growth strategy development for existing businesses.
Heather has also contributed several articles to the Journal of Urgent Care Medicine on topics related to starting an urgent care. In 2023, Heather spoke at the Urgent Care Association Conference, analyzing the nuances of starting an urgent care in a new, post-pandemic environment.