A Healthy Dose with Richard Park, M.D.

Richard Park, M.D. is the founder and chief executive officer of CityMD, one of the largest and fastest growing urgent care providers in the country.

Listen for unforgettable stories and insights into a mission-driven healthcare career, such as:

• The inspiration behind Richard’s career in medicine.

Born and raised in Flushing, Queens, Richard was a son of immigrant parents who made ends meet by managing a number of retail shops and markets throughout New York City. When Richard was young and broke his tailbone, he knew even then that asking to go see a doctor would put a strain on the family’s finances, so he didn’t tell his parents.

Three days of agonizing pain later, Richard’s parents knew something was wrong, so they took him to a local doctor who was highly recommended within the Korean community.

Dr. Kim treated Richard with care and consideration. He also waived the fees for his service, so his parents didn’t have to pay out of pocket, lifting a huge financial burden on the family.

The doctor’s level of generosity and service left an indelible impression on Richard. As a child, he learned a powerful lesson about the power of putting patients ahead of profits. To this day, Dr. Kim is the inspiration behind Richard’s career in medicine and the ethos behind CityMD.

• How a one-hour photo business inspired the concept for a one-hour urgent care health system.

Richard Park deferred going to the University of Pennsylvania for a year in order to earn money to pay for college. He ended up starting a one-hour photo shop and not only did that venture pay for college but it also forged the path for his ultimate career in urgent care. Richard garnered a deep understanding of how to run a successful retail franchise and the importance of providing quality service, at a low cost, and within a specific timeframe.

After becoming a doctor, Richard applied his past retail experiences when building CityMD, the most effective and patient-centric urgent care system in the New York and New Jersey area.

• Why patient care is only as valuable as the level of trust people have for their providers

According to Richard, the urgent care healthcare framework must be aligned to serve people, patients, and payers, in that order.

“When you serve kindness and people trust you, you can influence healthy decisions."

It’s also why it’s so important for healthcare leaders to build population-based urgent care models that are both inclusive and accessible.

Dr. Park’s compassionate approach to urgent care models has resulted in immense value to network partners and their patients. To date, CityMD has served more than 8.5 million patients and has clinics available every 15 minutes, by foot, from Queens to Long Island.