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July-September, 2003 |
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Children's Health
Urgent Care: somewhere between a
clinic office and the Emergency Room
It’s 7:30 p.m. on Sunday night and your
2-year-old has a fever and seems to be developing an upper respiratory
infection. Your pediatrician’s office won’t open for another 13 hours. The fever
and infection aren’t serious enough to warrant an ER visit, but you still want a
physician to evaluate her that evening. Where do you turn?
St. John’s operates eight urgent care
centers, including a pediatric urgent care center in Springfield, for exactly
these types of situations. Urgent care centers treat serious illnesses or
injuries that need immediate attention, but are not life-threatening.
“Urgent care is somewhere between a
clinic office visit and the emergency room,” says Sandy DeWoody, RN, group
administrator of St. John’s - Urgent Care - Smith-Glynn-Callaway. “It’s less
expensive than the ER, a little more expensive than the doctor’s office, while
still providing quality care on a walk-in basis.”
Urgent care patients are seen on a
first-come, first-served basis.
“You can’t expect to get in and out in
15 minutes,” says Kerry Watson, radiology technician at St. John’s Northwest
Urgent Care in Springfield. “But we will get you in and out as fast as we can.”
If a patient is unsure whether to go to
the ER or to an urgent care center, St. John’s Health Information Center nurses
can be reached 24 hours a day, seven days a week by calling 888-8888 or
1-800-909-TEAM. The nurses evaluate symptoms and recommend the best action to
take – whether it’s going to the ER, to an urgent care center or self-care.
“Our advice ranges from providing
information on self-care and over the counter medication to preparations
necessary before going to the ER,” says Tregg Geren, R.N., director of St.
John’s Health Information Center.
Ted
McMurry, M.D., medical director of St. John’s Emergency Trauma Center says
the true purpose of an emergency trauma center is to deal with emergency
conditions requiring immediate or rapid evaluation and treatment.
“Emergency rooms have diagnostic
capabilities with trained physicians and staff to deal with acute conditions.
Difficulty breathing, chest pain, symptoms of a stroke or a change in mental
status are good examples of conditions that need to be seen in an emergency room
for immediate evaluation and treatment.”
While the purpose of urgent care is not
to treat critical-care patients, it does occasionally happen. In those cases,
the clinics are equipped to stabilize patients until an ambulance arrives.
“We’ve sent several heart patients to
the ER. We can get an IV going, oxygen, EKG and generally triage so the patient
can go right in when they get to the hospital,” says Susan Wilson, a nurse
practitioner for St. John’s Northwest Urgent Care.
St. John’s Urgent Care Centers
Branson
St. John’s Urgent Care -
Branson
1940 Highway165,
in Corporate View Medical
Center
Branson, MO 65616
417-337-5000
Lebanon
St. John’s Urgent Care -
Lebanon
120 Hospital Drive, Suite
250
Lebanon, MO 65536
417-533-6717
Monett
St. John’s Urgent Care -
Monett
315 Cleveland
Monett, MO 65708
417-235-0196
Rolla
St. John’s Urgent Care -
Rolla
1100 W. 10th. St.
Rolla, MO 65401
573-341-3043
Springfield
St. John’s Urgent Care -
East Kearney
1640 E. Kearney
Springfield, MO 65803
417-863-9190
St. John’s Urgent Care -
Northwest
2120 W. Kearney
Springfield, MO 65803
417-869-6191
St. John’s Urgent Care -
Pediatrics - Smith-Glynn-Callaway
3231 S. National Ave.
Springfield, MO 65807
417-885-KIDS
St. John’s Urgent Care -
Smith-Glynn-Callaway
3231 S. National
Springfield, MO 65807
417-888-5666
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