Evan Chandler
Railyard Urgent Care launched its Fast Track Membership to generate revenue to hire another clinician and ultimately reduce congestion.
A new Disneyland FastPass-style membership program launched by a local urgent care has come under criticism, but the owner claims it’s a last-gasp attempt to save the clinic.
Railyard Urgent Care launched its Fast Track Membership on Nov. 1. For $300 a year, or $25 per month, patients receive a membership card that affords them front-of-the-line access and pre-registration. Memberships are limited to 500 spots.
Santa Fe resident Risana Zaxus tells SFR she had “a visceral reaction” to what she called clear inequities in the program.
“It hit me in the gut, and I don’t often react that way to stuff at all. It just really bothered me,” Zaxus says. “It seems like a real classist, ugly way to go about especially urgent care. There’s probably people that are so marginalized already that it’s just another thing that they can’t pay for…I just felt like it’s really unfair for me to sit there while people are going ahead of me because they had $300 dollars.”
Railyard Urgent Care co-founder, Dr. Troy Edward Watson, doesn’t disagree with the complaints, but says the move was made “out of necessity” for a business that’s lost money for consecutive years. However, with only seven people signed up for the membership as of Nov. 15, he isn’t convinced it will be a “saving grace.”
“I don’t like this Fast Track Membership either, and I don’t think it’s gonna be successful,” he says. “I still don’t think it’s gonna be enough to hire another nurse practitioner for a year, or anything like that. We gotta just look at some other avenues…If you’re not trying to pick something or do something, you’re complacent.”
Zaxus said she “felt like they cared” for her when she visited Railyard Urgent Care in the past, but won’t be going back unless the program is discontinued.
Marjo Hebert was another concerned resident who reached out to Railyard Urgent Care after finding out about the membership program. While she also lauded the care she has received at the clinic and did not feel the program would directly impact her, Hebert tells SFR it is “out of reach” for many individuals in the community.
“I wasn’t writing to them as a person in need myself because actually I’m in better circumstances,” Hebert says. “It was really a plea for the less fortunate in the community.”
She believes “the focus really does need to be on hiring more staff.”
In multiple email threads provided to SFR, Railyard Urgent Care Director of Marketing Amy Jane Banfield said the organization is focused on that, yet has no current plans to discontinue the program.
“Please know that our goal in offering the Fast Track Membership is to provide additional options for the community, never to exclude or create barriers for those seeking care. We understand how critical it is to ensure that healthcare remains accessible to everyone, and we take seriously the responsibility we have to serve our entire community fairly and equitably,” Banfield wrote in one email. “We are committed to improving care and reducing wait times for all patients. In parallel with the membership program, we are working to increase staffing and improve operational efficiencies to better address the needs of all patients, regardless of membership status. The Fast Track Membership was designed as one of multiple strategies to help alleviate congestion and improve service delivery.”
According to data provided by Railyard Urgent Care, the clinic has averaged 44 patients per day in 2024—the lowest average since 2020 and the pandemic shutdown.
Watson tells SFR the membership program comes on the heels of two years in the red for Railyard Urgent Care. He said primary factors for the downturn include the COVID-19 pandemic, and increases to malpractice insurance premiums despite no claims.
“We are looking for revenue to hopefully pay for additional clinician hours to try and improve wait times,” Watson says. “We have started to reverse this trend through unfortunate cuts, continued contract negotiations with private insurers, and trying things like this new Fast Track Membership.”
While Watson says he used to always be of the mindset that “if you just work harder, you’ll always make it,” he’s “not sure that’s necessarily the case.”
“We’re just hanging on. I wish we didn’t have to do this at all,” he says. “We’re trying to go through scenarios and I’ve seen the negative, and those are my people, too, so I’m trying to respond. I just don’t know how to keep this going.”
