When you visit an urgent care center, you can expect to wait less than an hour for your appointment. However, this is only an estimate and wait times can vary depending on the time of day and the clinic's availability. To reduce your wait time, try to go to the urgent care center late in the morning or first thing in the afternoon. You can also check the wait times at Allina Health's urgent care centers before you leave.
Weekends, especially Sunday afternoons, may be the best day for your urgent care visit. Additionally, you can call ahead and ask for the estimated wait time before leaving home. Making an appointment or checking in before you arrive can also help reduce wait time. Nurse practitioners and physician assistants who work in urgent care are experienced with the problems that are frequently encountered in this environment.
Urgent care provides specialized, convenient, and affordable care for a wide range of illnesses or injuries that are not life-threatening. Before visiting an urgent care center, it is important to understand what they can and cannot treat. Conditions that need emergency room care include excessive bleeding, broken bones, chest pain, or difficulty breathing. If you have any of these symptoms, it is best to go to the emergency room instead of an urgent care center.
It is also important to note that your primary care doctor has and knows all of your health history, including the list of treatments that have worked best for you in the past and information about your other medical conditions that should be considered. To find an urgent care center near you, use Solv, the largest directory of urgent care centers in the U. S. UU.
