Louise Larson tried to get her son in to see the pediatrician last week, after the 7-year-old spent several days coughing, sneezing and feverish. But since hundreds of other little kids are also coughing, sneezing and feverish this time of year, Larson couldn't get an appointment at the pediatricians office.
So, that's how they wound up at Healthy Trust Immediate Medical Care, one of more than a dozen urgent-care centers in the greater Chicago area.
"His doctor was full, we couldn't get in," says Larson who was drawing Crayon pictures with her son Jerome while waiting to be seen at Healthy Trust.
Urgent care centers -Immediate care centers- Walk-in clinics where you can be treated for a minor injury, sore throat, urinary infections, or other non-emergency illnesses -- have been around since the 1970s. But they have become increasingly more popular in the last several years.
"It's an extremely rapidly growing niche of health care," says John Berkowitz, director of Marketing for Healthy Trust Immediate Medical Care, "It is largely driven by the fact that there's large numbers of healthy people out there who want care for acute problems without going to the emergency room, and can't get an immediate appointment with their primary physician.
"But the clinics -- despite the word "urgent" in their name -- are not to be used for emergencies."If somebody has warning signs of chest pain, abdominal pain, especially if they're sweating or pale, we usually try to make sure they're stable and get them to the hospital emergency room," says Dr. Boris Gurevich, medical director for Healthy Trust Immediate Medical Care. "In fact in Illinois they are referred to as Immediate Care Centers to avoid the confusion."
On a recent day at Healthy Trust Immediate Medical Care, a 69 year old Deerfield woman who had a painful urinary infection was directed to a walk in clinic at a name brand pharmacy in Libertyville for treatment at the suggestion of her family because she could not see her gynecologist for another three days. She waited for three hours until being told that they could not treat her because the Nurse Practitioner was only able to treat respiratory infections. She then went to Healthy Trust which was able to see her immediately, and perform the necessary lab tests which were able to giver a correct diagnosis of the problem.
"Some people misunderstand the concept of urgent care and think it's an emergency department that just happens to be in your community," Dr. Gurevich says. "If you think you have an emergency, go to the emergency department. What people don't realize is that 80% of the patients that go to an emergency room are going for non-urgent problems that can be treated for a fraction of the cost at an Immediate Medical Care Center like Healthy Trust."
Most urgent care centers see lots of otherwise healthy people who have an acute problem. Once people start developing serious or chronic conditions, they turn to their family physician."People who are young and healthy are utilizing it," Dr. Gurevich says. "A lot of people are trying to fit things into the edges of their lives. We're a sort of a drive-through mentality ... Now it's almost to the point where we drive through for health care as well."
Louise and her son spent about 5 minutes waiting to be seen by Dr. Elena Edwards.
Dr. Edwards was able to tell Louise that everything looked fine after the exam. She said to expect it to take 10 or 11 days for the boy to feel back to his old self.
Healthy Trust Immediate Medical Care proudly serves the Chicago North Shore Communities of Lake County, Wheeling, Prospect Heights, Lincolnshire, Deerfield, Buffalo Grove, Northbrook, Highland Park, Long Grove, Riverwoods, Des Plaines, Palatine, Glenview, Highwood, Northfield, Libertyville, Winnetka, Arlington Heights, Mount Prospect, Lake Bluff, Lake Forest, Mundelein, and Bannockburn.
Healthy Trust Immediate Medical Care Walk-in clinic administers immediate medical care during convenient hours. See our doctors for minor injuries or health problems, such as sprains, cuts, urinary infections, colds, flu's, and for other convenient health care services.
No comments:
Post a Comment