A doctor looking at a child's injured foot.

Emergency vs. Primary Care vs. Urgent Care. Know the difference!

If you haven’t visited an urgent care clinic before and you’re curious about how it works and how it’s different from the emergency room or your primary care, here’s a rundown for Hendrick Urgent Care.

First things first, urgent care is not meant to replace your primary care. Your primary care is there to help you manage chronic illnesses, or long-lasting medical conditions, as well as helping you maintain your overall health. However, trying to see your primary care physician without an appointment for an unexpected injury or sudden sickness can be difficult. Urgent care also differs from the ER because the ER handles very serious illnesses and injuries. Emergency rooms will prioritize patients according to how severe their symptoms are, which means you could be waiting quite a while if other patients are in worse condition.

An urgent care clinic, such as Hendrick Urgent Care, is a perfect way to handle all those problems that need to be treated quickly, but don’t need serious medical care. At Hendrick Urgent Care, you can walk in without an appointment and get quick and efficient treatment for things like lacerations, minor illnesses, and minor injuries.

Get Better. Faster!

When you arrive at the clinic, you will check in at the front desk. If there is immediate availability, or if you have made an appointment, they will show you to an exam room. After that, the visit is very similar to a regular doctor’s visit, where a provider will ask you questions and give you medical treatment and medication of necessary. Lacerations, scrapes, cuts, and bruises, as well as simple bone fractures and sprained ankles can all be treated at Hendrick Urgent Care.

If your symptoms are more serious, or if you require a higher level of care than Hendrick Urgent Care offers, there’s no need to worry! We’re partnered with some amazing local health systems and can refer you to specialists or can fast track you to their emergency room in more serious cases. Our priority is offering you the highest level of both service, and healthcare.