Health Information Library

Urgent medical needs? We're ready to help

Learn how and when to use one of our urgent care centers.

From minor mishaps around the home to worrisome fevers and sore throats, almost every family has pressing medical needs at times. Though they may not be emergencies, they need attention now—and more than just a bandage from the medicine cabinet.

Fortunately, there's a convenient solution to such inconvenient problems, which can happen on weekends and after your doctor's office is closed. Urgent care just might save you the time and cost of a trip to the emergency department.

Urgent care centers are set up to handle a wide range of minor illnesses and injuries, such as:

  • Fevers, coughs and sore throats.
  • Earaches.
  • Strains and sprains.
  • Cuts that might need stitches.
  • Some burns and broken bones.
  • Animal bites.
  • Rashes and other allergic reactions that aren't life-threatening.

Walk right in

Our urgent care centers are open weekends and evenings, and you don't need an appointment. Plus, you may not spend a lot of time waiting to be seen. About 67 percent of visits have a wait time between 15 and 45 minutes, according to the Urgent Care Association of America. By comparison, when you go to the emergency department with a problem that isn't an emergency, you are likely to wait a long time while people with more serious conditions are seen, even if you arrived ahead of them.

Another plus to choosing urgent care when you don't really need the emergency department: Your visit will likely cost less.

And here's something else you might not realize: Services such as sports and school physicals and immunizations are often offered at urgent care centers. Also, with on-site x-rays and lab tests, you won't have to go to another office should you need them.

Is it an emergency?

Of course, when you have a medical emergency, you need to be seen in the emergency department—immediately. Here are some signs and symptoms of medical emergencies:

  • Chest pain or pressure.
  • Bleeding that doesn't stop.
  • Trouble breathing or shortness of breath.
  • Losing consciousness.
  • Coughing or vomiting blood.
  • Sudden or severe pain.
  • Sudden vision changes.
  • Confusion or changes in mental status.
  • Head injuries.
  • Suicidal thoughts.

If you think someone's condition is or could become life-threatening, call 911 and wait for an ambulance.

Additional sources: American College of Emergency Physicians; National Association for Ambulatory Care

go