There is an Urgent Care located 6.32 miles (according to Map Quest) from our home. It opened a little more than a year ago and we have used it on three separate occasions. Once for me and twice for our 2 1/2 year old son. I am starting to wonder if they will be instituting some sort of a frequent customer program?!?!
Back in the Spring, we were having a community beautification day on a lovely Saturday. Being an involved community citizen, I volunteered to help and was assigned weeding and mulching. I believe I was assigned that task because we own a pickup truck and I would be able to tote around the mulch. Anyway, we live in the Gulf Coast area of Houston and we have some fairly unusual (to this Northeastern girl) plants around here. During the mulching and weeding, I managed to prick myself with a 4 inch thorn that was protruding from one of the tropical plants. (I would include a picture but I still don't know what it is called and I am simply too lazy to get in the car and photograph the offending plant.) So, this thorn pokes me in the hand and pierces my skin and lands smack dab into one of the veins on my hand. It was pretty wild because it immediately spurted blood, became swollen and started to ache. No good deed goes unpunished eh? I talked to our local volunteer fire department/emergency responders (who are fabulous) and they suggested that I have a doctor take a look and give me a tetanus shot. EEEKK!
Well, I was certainly not going to try and go to our local hospital's emergency room for a tetanus shot! I felt that my injury did not warrant the wait, the hassle or the $250 emergency room co-pay. I thought about waiting until Monday until I remembered the new Urgent Care facility that had recently opened in our community. I decided I would give them a try and what a treat that turned out to be!
This Urgent Care is open 7 days per week, 9am - 7pm. I got there at about 4:45pm on a Saturday. There were two other people there waiting in the delightful waiting room that had Discovery Channel playing on both of the flat screen TVs hanging on the walls. I handed them my insurance card, filled out ONE form (two sides) and paid my $25 co-pay. Within 10 minutes, I was seeing a Board Certified physician. The Doctor took a look at my hand and ordered the predicted tetanus shot. A nurse immediately appeared and preceded to provide me with the dreaded medicine. The Doctor returned and told me they would like me to take an antibiotic for a couple of days to prevent infection and then wanted to know to which local pharmacy should the call in the prescription!!! Oh my goodness...I wanted to hug him. Call in a prescription and save me some time?!?! Who does that any more? Well, instead of a hug, I asked him to look at my knee that had been bothering me. He told me I was probably doing a couple of my yoga moves with too much enthusiasm and wrapped it in an ace bandage and told me to take it easy.
I LOVE this facility. And, they had me at $25 co-pay please!
I returned home with business cards and Urgent Care pamphlets to hand out to my neighbors and friends who have children, grandchildren and husbands who use power tools. I was so impressed I even wrote an article about them in our local community newspaper.
Then, on Friday, September 13th we faced a truly scary medical emergency when our son fell and his hit forehead on some concrete. There was blood and screaming. I called 911 and once again our amazing Volunteer Fire Department and Emergency Responders came to our aid. After some cleaning up and soothing, our son seemed okay (he had one heck of a bump on his head) but they thought it was best to have him checked out at the Emergency Room. Instead, I called the Urgent Care (which was 10 miles closer) and told them we were on our way. We got there and after the Doctor checked him out, it was his suggestion that we head to the Emergency Room. The Urgent Care facility called the Emergency Room to let them know we were coming and provide them with all of our information to pre-register us. What angels! You can read the rest of the story at What I learned in the Emergency Room, Pediatric ICU and the hospital this weekend - and the benefit of daycare/childcare!
Out third trip to the Urgent Care facility was last Thursday. It was about an hour before my son and I were heading out of the house to catch a plane to visit the
It turns out that my husband (who was supposed to be watching my son while I packed) missed it when our son somehow located a small bottle of Advil. And, he also missed it when our son managed to open it and eat a few of them. My husband did become aware when our son immediately began to vomit (you would too if you chewed Advil) which alarmed my husband and followed it up with the blood curdling scream for help. So, off to the Urgent Center I sent them. I didn't accompany on this trip because I knew my son was going to be okay and it was a good exercise for my husband to handle this situation on his own. Share and share alike, I say.
Again, the Urgent Care was great! The Doctor saw my son immediately. Upon review, it seems that none of the Advil stayed in his stomach and provided some comfort to my nervous wreck of a husband. As a point of interest, ibuprofen was not quite the concern as Tylenol would have been. It seems that if my son had ingested some of the Advil, they would have given him a liquid charcoal mixture to drink to coat and protect his stomach and intestines and let it pass. However, they would have pumped his stomach if he had swallowed Tylenol. Good information for parents to know. Additionally, all parents should have ready access to the Poison Control Center 1-800-222-1222. In Canada, the telephone numbers change with each Province - click on the Children's Safety Association of Canada for your Province's emergency telephone number
There are two Urgent Care facilities within 10 miles of me. I have both of them programmed in my cell phone. I have given permission for the daycare, where my son goes to Mother's Day Out, to have the Urgent Care facility treat him for non life-threatening medical conditions or injuries.
Reasons to use a Urgent Care facility:
You have an urgent non life-threatening medical condition or injury
Your primary care doctor's office is closed
You are not able to schedule a convenient appointment with your primary care doctor
You are away from home
Most Urgent Care facilities offer:
Board Certified physicians
Urgent trauma equipment including cardiac monitors
X-Ray equipment
Minor procedure room (sterile/clean rooms)
Many Urgent Care facilities offer:
CT Scans
Ultrasounds
Other Benefits of Urgent Care facilities:
Shorter wait times to see a doctor
Doctor visit co-pay and not emergency room co-pay (that saved us $225 per visit)
Weekend and after hours availability
So, take some time in the near future to check out your local Urgent Care facilities. Stop in. Take a tour. Have them check to make sure they take your insurance. You may even decide to pre-register with them to save yourself some time if you see a possible visits in your future.
For more information on Urgent Care facilities you can visit the Urgent Care Association of America.
Please feel free to share comments or experiences you may have had with an Urgent Care center.
Be well,
Erin
www.ExpectingExecutive.com
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