What’s keeping the foot doctor away? Hardeeville podiatry clinic isn’t closed

Patients of Atlantic Foot & Ankle Specialists were left puzzled and untreated during the last few weeks while the Hardeeville podiatry clinic was unexpectedly closed, but the closure is only temporary, doctors say.

Dr. Christin Runkel, the presiding physician at the clinic, said the office at 300 New River Parkway was closed while the owners finalized a deal to sell the business to Ankle & Foot Associates. She said she would continue to practice at the clinic and the office would reopen early next week at its regular hours.

“They want to keep me practicing basically how I’ve been,” she said. “All the services we provide ... will still be in effect.”

Numerous emails to The Island Packet and The Beaufort Gazette and Facebook posts from patients claimed the business hadn’t been open for weeks. Customers shared experiences of arriving at the office for scheduled appointments to find a note on the door stating the clinic had closed for a short emergency.

Runkel said staff at her office were unable to access patient information caused by system issues during the transition of owners, which left them with no other choice but to close temporarily.

The sister location of Atlantic Foot & Ankle Specialists in Savannah is also included in this transitional business deal, she said, but the Hinesville, Statesboro and Pooler locations were not. Runkel said the Pooler office was still practicing and could assist patients while the other offices are closed.

“(If patients) need to obtain their records, they could probably do that through the (Pooler) office,” she said.

Messages were left for the offices in Pooler and Hinesville.

A receptionist at the Statesboro office said she had no information regarding the doctors at the practices or the state of the offices, including the corporate office in Pooler. She said her office was currently under new management.

This story was originally published February 15, 2017 at 6:02 PM with the headline "What’s keeping the foot doctor away? Hardeeville podiatry clinic isn’t closed."