Revscale Media (illustration)A Hug Away Healthcare Launches Franchise Program
The Houston home health and hospice provider is opening its 18-year-old care model to franchisees as it looks to expand beyond Texas.
The largest U.S. urgent care franchisor adds an MSO veteran as president to build the support systems its 400-plus clinics need to scale.

American Family Care has named Rhett Lankford president, a role focused on the back-end systems behind its network of more than 400 urgent care clinics. Lankford reports to CEO Jeremy Morgan and arrives from healthcare management services, where he ran operations across hospitals and surgical centers. The hire signals where AFC plans to spend its energy next, on franchisee support rather than headline unit counts.
A management services organization, or MSO, handles the administrative and operational work that individual clinics cannot run efficiently on their own, from billing to staffing systems. Lankford's background building those platforms points to AFC centralizing more of that load so franchise owners can focus on patient care. When a franchisor absorbs the heavy administrative lifting, unit-level operators tend to open faster and run leaner.
AFC generates more than $1 billion in system-wide sales and treats over 4 million patients a year, so small gains in clinic efficiency compound quickly across the network. Morgan framed the appointment around the tools, systems, and capabilities that help owners grow patient volume and operate more efficiently. For existing operators, the test is whether new infrastructure reaches their clinics in months, not years.
Urgent care has shifted toward convenient, preventive models, and patients now expect connected, responsive service. Building that experience at scale requires standardized systems behind every walk-in door, which is exactly the work a president with MSO experience is hired to lead. The appointment tells the market that AFC sees its next phase of growth coming from operational depth, not just new locations.
Revscale Media (illustration)The Houston home health and hospice provider is opening its 18-year-old care model to franchisees as it looks to expand beyond Texas.
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Revscale Media (illustration)A veteran QSR franchisee behind dozens of Popeyes and Burger King units is diversifying into fitness with a multi-unit Retro Fitness deal on Long Island.
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