What happens when the church meets the city's needs?
That’s the question Watermark Health asked in 2013 through our first urgent care clinic in Lake Highlands in partnership with Watermark Community Church. From the very beginning, the Lord chose to use the clinic to write stories of life changes in patients and volunteers. Many of the thousands of patients seen might never have walked through the doors of a church, but instead, they met the church body inside the clinic walls.
As Watermark Church expanded to add a campus in Plano, Watermark Health followed suit, opening the Plano Clinic in 2018. In 2021 Watermark Plano became CityBridge Community Church and this change created an opportunity for something new.
“Powered by Watermark Health” was born. This new partnership model allows Watermark Health to provide the support services required to run a clinic which frees up the local church to do what they do best - serve their specific part of the city, connect patients to the body of Christ, and disciple their members through service.
The relaunch to CityBridge Urgent Care: Powered by Watermark Health was celebrated in June. 2022 will mark one year of working with CityBridge through this new operating agreement.
This monumental partnership clarifies the Watermark Health mission in Collin County, empowering the local church to meet the city’s physical and spiritual needs.
Since 2018, this clinic has operated under the name Watermark Urgent Care, the second clinic run by the medical ministry of Watermark Community Church. As a nonprofit urgent care clinic, this location has served 6,136 patients by removing barriers to healthcare and providing little or no-cost visits with no requirement for insurance, ID, or appointments.
This location has always been tied directly to the local body of believers at CityBridge Community Church (formerly known as the Plano Campus of Watermark Community Church), which launched as an independent church in January 2021. This name change is a clear way for patients to know that the local church is meeting their needs in Jesus' name! Watermark Health will continue supporting and coordinating back-office services for the clinic, including staffing, finances, facilities, communications, and leadership.
“I’m excited for CityBridge to carry on the rich history of serving the city that started with Watermark launching the Skillman Clinic nine years ago,” said Kyle Kaigler, Lead Pastor of CityBridge Community Church. “When we launched the Plano Clinic, we knew it’d be a foundation for the Gospel to be spread in Collin County, and it has been incredible to see the way the Lord has used it to minister to the community.”
Kaigler, a key leader in Watermark planting a campus in Collin County, now has the opportunity to serve the body of CityBridge as their Lead Pastor and encourage members to strengthen relationships in their local community.
“The clinic gives members a place to serve and connects them with a different demographic of people they wouldn’t meet otherwise,” said Kaigler. “It expands their view of the Gospel and the Kingdom and helps them fall in love with the local community God has them in.”
CityBridge members Kent & Cherilyn McAllister have been deeply impacted by serving at the clinic. While they both serve in different capacities, they enjoy coming together to leverage their gifts to serve others.
“I believe God prepared and equipped me to invest with CityBridge Urgent Care after having a career in healthcare administration over the past 25 years,” said Kent McAllister. “With my recent retirement, though forced by COVID-19, I now have more time to invest in the clinic for the Kingdom.”
Since 2019, the clinic has served patients from 121 unique countries, which gives volunteers a unique way to learn about other cultures.
“Without stepping foot on a plane, there is an opportunity to take the Great Commission to the nations right here in Collin County, as people from all over the world are walking into the clinic each day,” said McAlister. “I pray that people see the tangible opportunity to be involved in seeing Jesus bring healing and hope into the community.”