02/24/2017

When Is an Urgent Care Center Your Best Choice?

Illness and injury can happen at any time, but they so often seem to occur on evenings or weekends. You are in pain and you want care now, but where do you go? An urgent care center may be your best choice.

Knowing what an urgent care center is and what conditions and injuries it can treat can save you some stress, time and even money when illness strikes and you are looking for care.

Walk-in urgent care centers, like Wentworth-Douglass Express Care in Dover and Lee, fill an important healthcare gap when you need immediate care but not the level of care available in an emergency department.  With on-site lab and X-ray equipment, Express Care and other urgent care centers can handle more severe conditions and injuries, such as broken bones and burns.

Instead of heading right to the ED the next time you need after-hours care, consider your pain or symptoms to determine your best option.

Urgent Care – What Can It Treat?

Walk-in urgent care clinics can handle a variety of medical conditions that need immediate care. Some symptoms and injuries that can be evaluated and treated at an urgent care clinic include:

• Dislocations,  fractures and sprains
• Minor cuts & burns
• Wound infections
• Vomiting & diarrhea
• Dehydration
• Ear Pain
• Rashes
• Coughs, cold, flu & strep

At Wentworth-Douglass Express Care, you’ll see the same team of physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants from the Seacoast Emergency Physicians that staff the Emergency Department at Wentworth-Douglass Hospital. They are experienced in treating both adults and pediatric patients. 

Why Urgent Care?

It’s quality care when you need it – and it's fast. Urgent care centers are usually open longer hours than a doctor’s office.

At Wentworth-Douglass Express Care, our locations are staffed by a full medical team from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. every day.

No appointment is necessary to visit an urgent care center, and you can often register online to skip the wait. For many patients, their visit lasts less than an hour.

In addition to faster care, an urgent care visit often costs much less than the emergency room due to the level and efficiency of the care provided.

Making the Right Choice

Trust your instincts. If you feel it’s serious, go to the nearest ED.

If you are not sure, you can always call your doctor’s office to get their opinion. Even during nights and weekends an on-call provider should be available to offer you advice.  For more minor issues, they may suggest you wait to see your primary care provider or direct you a walk-in clinic – like Wentworth-Douglass Prompt Care – which is equipped to care for minor conditions without the need to wait for an appointment.

When it comes to treating life’s small emergencies, local urgent care centers are a great choice for fast, affordable and quality care.

If you find yourself needing an urgent care center, Wentworth-Douglass Express Care is conveniently located in Dover (just down the street from the hospital) and Lee (near the Lee Traffic Circle). Patients can walk right in or check-in online to shorten the wait time before visiting.

For more information, visit Wentworth-Douglass Express Care online or call our Dover location at (603) 609-6700 or Lee at (603) 868-8507.