When of the great things about an urgent care facility for parents is that they are available in the best hours. They are available in the evenings and on weekends when your kids are out of school and you are off work. You can go to them without having to take time off work, lose pay, and irritate your boss. You can go to them without your children missing school or having to leave early, so you get letters from the school reminding you how importance attendance is to your child’s education.

Urgent cares are also great because you don’t need an appointment. You don’t need to call a call center and wait on hold for 10 minutes. You don’t have to be transferred to three different departments just to be told there are no open appointments for three weeks.

When your kids are sick, you can take them to an urgent care and see a doctor that day without the hassle of trying to make an appointment. Some urgent cares are located in or near a local hospital, which is ideal in case they recommend you go to the hospital. However, for areas that do not have a local hospital, an urgent care is an ideal first line of care.

Urgent cares are great for when what you need medically is minor and really not worth the hassle of dealing with your primary care physician’s office. For example, if your daughter has a urinary tract infection or your son fell and twisted his ankle. You already basically know what is wrong because you’re a parent, you’ve been through this a dozen times. Yes, it is important to see a doctor, and there is an off chance that the problem is not what you think. However, as you have probably experienced before, it is typically exactly what you think it is.
you may be wondering when to go to urgent care, opposed to your doctor or a hospital. If your medical concern is presenting an immediate or severe threat to your health or your child’s health, go to the emergency room. For example, if you think your child has sprained his ankle, go to the urgent care. It could be a minor fracture, but they can xray it and let you know. If your child falls and there is a bone sticking out, go to the emergency room.

Urgent care centers are for minor injuries or health concerns. They are for illness when you can’t get into the doctor or don’t want to wait. If you need a medical test done anytime in the next six months, its best to just make an appointment and go through your doctor. However, if you are concerned about a urinary tract infection and just need a pee test and antibiotics, go to an urgent care.

Your local hospital is likely overrun with people going to the emergency room with non-emergent condition. This slows down care and makes emergency care overall significantly more expensive. A recent study suggests as much as over 50% of emergency room visits could have been handled at an urgent care.

Don’t add to the problem by going to the local hospital every time you have a stuffy nose or a sore throat. Not everything is the flu. An urgent care can treat you for a cold or strep or any number of other common bacterial and viral infections that millions of people get each year. Save yourself the time and aggravation of trying to get your child into the doctor while they are still sick, and just opt for the urgent care. In addition to offer service with appointments and being open during odd hours, there is almost always little to no wait.