Hartford HealthCare has a number of Urgent Care Centers across Connecticut. Dr. Paqui Motyl, Regional Medical Director for Urgent Care, describes the services offered.
Q. Explain the difference between ER vs. Urgent Care usage?
A. Hartford Healthcare Medical Group is dedicated to provide outstanding medical care to the community. Therefore, Urgent Care has become a key focus in order to achieve this goal. Urgent care is a necessary resource for the community offering the treatment of immediate but non-life-threatening conditions for all age groups. Urgent care offers excellent medical care for many conditions in a convenient and affordable manner. Our wait time is usually less than one hour. Additionally, compared to the ER, there can be up to a 75 percent savings to the patient and their insurance company for their treatment. For example- a patient seen in the ER for a strep throat can cost up to $500 compared to $125 for an Urgent Care visit.
Q. When should you go to the Urgent Care?
A. Urgent Care is really the perfect medical resource for any non life-threatening condition for any age. When we discuss non-life-threatening that would include any time sensitive medical illness or injury that a delay could have an adverse outcome. For example, if a patient feels their symptoms may be coming from a heart attack or stroke, Urgent Care does not have the ability to treat the complexity necessary for these conditions. However, if they present to the Urgent Care – we would evaluate them appropriately and transfer them to the appropriate level of care in a seamless manner. We do offer x-rays, EKG and lab work for rapid and accurate diagnoses of many injuries and non-complex medical conditions.
Q. What type of injuries do you treat in Urgent Care?
A. Appropriate Urgent Care conditions that we treat include injuries such as sprains and fractures, minor head injuries, laceration repair, splinter removal, abscess drainage, fishhook removal, sunburn treatment, tick removal, neck sprains, insect stings and animal bites. Medical conditions include evaluation and treatment of poison ivy and poison oak, skin rashes and infections, sore throats, sinus infections, conjunctivitis, urinary tract infections, tick borne illnesses and much more. We also perform DOT (Department of Transportation) physicals as well as camp, sports and school physicals. We offer immunizations year round including tetanus, pneumonia, MMR, Hepatitis A and B and seasonal flu shots.
For more information on our Urgent Care Services, click here. Join us for the Healthy Family FunFest on Sunday, Feb. 25, 2018 between 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the Aqua Turf Club, 556 Mulberry St., in the Plantsville section of Southington. There something for everyone!