HOLMES BEACH – The Oct. 19 opening of Island Express Care provides Anna Maria Island residents and visitors with an urgent care facility that doesn’t require leaving the Island.
Located at 5348 Gulf Drive, Suite 4, in Holmes Beach, near Hurricane Hanks, Island Express Care is now open seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Island Express Care is owned by Holmes Beach residents Dr. David Feiner and Courtney Feiner, a former nurse, and their business partner, Dr. Benjamin Miller.
The Feiners became Holmes Beach residents in 2024 and are now raising their four children on the Island. David maintains his orthopedic surgeon’s practice in Orlando and commutes between his new hometown and his longtime workplace.
Courtney oversees the administrative functions of the new clinic while also running her Feiner Design Company interior design firm and raising their four young children.
The Island Express Care staff features nurse practitioners, registered nurses and X-ray technicians. When The Sun visited Island Express Care on Oct. 22, the on-duty staff included Courtney, X-ray technician Nicole Otney, registered nurse Elaine Kuzyk and nurse practitioner Sandy Lindstrom. Dr. Feiner and Dr. Miller are not members of Island Express Care’s day-to-day medical staff.
SERVICES OFFERED
Operating as a direct-pay clinic, Island Express Care offers walk-in urgent care; on-site X-rays; in-house lab tests; minor medical procedures and orthopedic treatments; physicals and screenings; injections and administered medications; an in-house pharmacy that includes antibiotics, anti-inflammatories and other medications; IV therapy and NAD+ IV therapy; and MedSpa and weight-loss services.
A full 129-item fee schedule can be found at the Island Express Care website. The listed prices include $200 for an initial visit; $150 for a follow-up visit; $75 for X-rays; $100 telehealth appointments during normal business hours; $150 after-hours telehealth visits; $200 to $300 laceration treatment; $50 EKG tests; $200 general physicals; $75 K-12 school physicals; and free school physicals for eligible Anna Maria Elementary students.
The IV therapy treatments are $250 to $300 and include a Myers’ Cocktail and various immunity, mental clarity, jet lag/energy boost, hydration boost, hangover relief, anti-aging, weight-loss, and recovery and reboot IVs.
OWNERS’ THOUGHTS
When speaking to The Sun, Courtney said, “I didn’t need to do any market research to know that there’s a huge need. I know there’s demand for it because my kids are constantly getting hurt. We’re doing sutures on our countertop. There was such a need on the Island for health care in general and everyone would have to go over the bridge to get that immediate care they need, especially pediatric patients, vacationers and locals. There was nothing here on the Island. We don’t want to travel over the bridge, especially during the busy season and we saw a great opportunity to do this for our community.”
Dr. Feiner said there have been many times when they’re at the Holmes Beach skate park and someone goes down with an injury that might entail a sprain or a broken bone.
“Now, you can come right in, get your X-ray, get your splint and be on your way. If things can wait till the morning, certainly you can show up at 8 a.m., walk in and be seen. If not, then you need to go to the emergency room,” he said.
“I can’t tell you how many times you see on Island Ratz or one of the other social media groups someone asking where to go for urgent care? We’d been coming to the Island for the past eight years and I felt the need for this since before we moved here. I certainly think this fills a big void,” he said.
“In terms of our urgent care services, you come to us for anything that you don’t think you need to go to an ER for, but you can’t be seen by your primary doctor, or you can’t get in somewhere quickly,” he said.
Dr. Feiner said he’s also established a relationship with Coastal Orthopedics in Bradenton so patients can be referred there when needed.
When asked what conditions do not warrant a visit to Island Express Care, Dr. Feiner said, “You don’t want to come to us with significant chest pain or heart attack issues. You don’t want to come to us with stroke-like symptoms, severe abdominal pain and things like that. If you think you have to call an ambulance, you shouldn’t be coming to us. We’re not a substitute for the emergency room.”
PEPTIDES
“We’re interested in getting into the peptides and wellness treatments too,” Dr. Feiner said. “Maybe traditional medications aren’t the answer for everything and maybe there are some alternatives we can use to help people in a way that we haven’t done. All these GLP-1 weight-loss medications are peptides and that’s probably been one of the most revolutionary medicines we’ve seen in my lifetime. It’s made people’s diabetes go away, their hypertension go away and their weight come down.”
DIRECT PAY
“We are a direct pay clinic. We are not in network with any insurances. This allows us to give affordable and transparent care,” Dr. Feiner said. “That doesn’t mean you can’t come here if you have insurance. We’ll be able to see you. You’ll pay our prices and you can submit a bill to your insurance and they may reimburse you for it, they may not. Most people who are on vacation are going to be out of network anyway, so wherever they go, their insurance is not going to cover it until it’s gone through the proper channels.”
FACILITY DESIGN
Regarding the clinic’s design and layout, Dr. Feiner said, “Courtney designed everything. She put the plans together. It’s beautiful aesthetically and that’s all a credit to her. In terms of the efficiency and layout, I said what do I do in a normal day when I see 45 patients in a few hours? How do I move around? Let’s build a space where we can move around in that kind of capacity and efficiency.”
The Feiners praised Duncan Real Estate’s April Green and Darcie Duncan for helping them find the right location for the clinic, after previously assisting them with the purchase of their home.
“April is one of the most loyal people I’ve ever met. And I’ve never seen somebody go above and beyond so much. Every step of the way, she’s been our number one cheerleader. April and Darcie have really looked out for us,” Dr. Feiner said.
He also thanked Courtney’s parents, Larry and Cheryl Mulvey, who recently moved to the area and watched the kids while he and Courtney prepared the clinic for its opening.
“We’ve put everything we can into this space and it was just a tremendous undertaking, certainly with four kids,” he said.
Regarding the community’s support as a whole, Dr. Feiner said, “We’ve had a huge support system to get this thing done and the whole Island seems to have a great feeling about this place.”
