MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG) – Sage Health opened its first facility in the nation and they chose Mobile as their home Wednesday.

Tyrone Cox, the Vice President of Operations, said the health care center hopes to tackle a list of issues to give senior citizens more opportunities to live independently.

Among many issues that the senior community faces, access to a primary care physician is one of the largest. Cox said that Sage Health hopes to tackle that issue by focusing exclusively on the senior citizen community.

“On average, most primary care physicians in the United States deal with anywhere from 2,500 to 3,000 patients per physician,” Cox said. “With Sage Health, 400 patients per primary care physician. That means a lot of access for primary care.”

Cox said Mobile was chosen among other communities because of data suggesting a higher population of senior citizens and their lack of access to primary healthcare.

“We look at a lot of the data,” Cox said. “We look at where there’s seniors, a high concentration of senior, but we also want to see, what are some of the access points or seniors, you know? Are there primary care facilities within the area where the seniors live at? And just kind of identifying what’s the greatest need.”

Sage health is located in the Pinebrook shopping center on Airport Boulevard, however, Cox said they plan to add two more locations to Mobile including one in Midtown on Government Street and the other on St. Stephens Road.

“We’re really excited to be here, being the first center to open up nationally, to be here in the Mobile community to serve our seniors, because that’s really what we want,” Amber Finch, Senior Manager of the Pinebrook location, said. “We want them to live their life to the fullest.”

Cox said that Sage Health is planning to expand to Mississippi, Arkansas, and Maryland as soon as the end of July.