NEW YORK Doctors Express, a national urgent care franchise, is looking to become the largest for-profit urgent care franchise with up to 3,000 centers, according to published reports.

"One of the challenges [with health care] is the time it takes to get in to see your primary care physician," which can take up to a month, Doctors Express founder Peter Ross was quoted as saying in an article published on Coloradoan.com.

Doctors Express has 70 clinics in 23 states and is looking to have 25 more open by year's end, the article stated.

"The nice thing about Doctors Express for a franchisee -- in other words a business owner -- is that I'm getting into a business that is very recession-resistant. People are always going to need medical care. The urgent care industry is fragmented or what some people would call unorganized, and Doctors Express is the first national urgent care franchise system," Ross said during a video interview with 919Marketing.

Doctors Express charges $125 to $140 for a basic visit, and estimates an ER visit to be about $600.

Ross also told Coloradoan.com that his clinics accept all insurance, Medicare and the uninsured, and "we work very well with primary care physicians. We produce complete reports to send to primary care physicians so they can follow up with their patient."