Urgent Care vs the ER

For non-life threatening illnesses and injuries, have you wondered "Urgent Care or Emergency Room?"? Although urgent care centers are equipped to treat a large variety of health concerns, urgent care centers are not emergency rooms. Emergency rooms treat severe, life-threatening conditions, and are open all day, every day. Urgent care centers provide care for non-life threatening illnesses and injuries, and are not 24/7 facilities. Curious about the difference between urgent care and primary care? Learn more »

Important note: If you are experiencing a medical emergency, call 9-1-1 or go to the nearest emergency room immediately.

The benefits of urgent care

For non-life threatening illnesses and injuries, PhysicianOne Urgent Care can save you time and money compared with an emergency room. At PhysicianOne Urgent Care, we provide high-quality walk-in medical care for non-life threatening illnesses and injuries. Some benefits include:

• Extended hours, which exceed those of physicians' offices: 8:00am to 8:00pm Monday through Friday, 9:00am to 5:00pm on weekends and holidays, 8:00am to 3:00pm Thanksgiving and Christmas Day.
• Convenience: Walk-in or check-in online to hold your spot in the wait queue. Check wait times online from home, school, work, or on-the-go.
• Cost: Urgent care tends to be significantly less expensive than the emergency room, for non-life threatening illnesses and injuries.
• Time: On average, patients are cared for and on their way home (or back to school or work) in less than an hour. That's a fraction of the time of an emergency room visit.

Know which treatment option to choose

To ensure you are getting the right care at the right time, it's important to understand your options before an accident or illness occurs. As always, if you're ever in doubt about whether you need emergent, life-saving care, go to an ER right away.

When to visit an ER:

• Signs of a heart attack, severe chest pain/pressure
• Signs of stroke
• Anaphylaxis
• Sudden or unexplained loss of consciousness
• Severe head injuries
• Sudden loss of vision
• Sudden shortness of breath
• Coughing or vomiting blood
• Sudden and severe abdominal pain
• Suicidal feelings
• Partial or total amputation of a limb
• Sudden severe headache
• Large open wound
• Severe bleeding
• Spinal injuries
• Vaginal bleeding with pregnancy
• Serious burns
• Alcohol or drug overdose

When to take your child to the ER:

• Any difficulty breathing
• Blue lips, tongue, or skin tone
• A change in mental status
• Seizures
• Ingestion of a toxic chemical or prescription drug prescribed for someone else