When Should You Go to Urgent Care Vs. ER?

Urgent care offers many benefits including the ability to book appointments and walk into the clinic during their open hours. Urgent care is usually the go-to for minor injuries or illnesses and other services because of the quick wait times and timely turnaround for results. Emergency care rooms could have wait times of a few hours, as it depends on how busy they are and if your visit is determined life or limb-threatening or not.

Urgent care clinics are available to help conserve ER Hospital resources so that more serious and even life-threatening conditions can be treated in the emergency hospital.

Emergency hospital care focuses on medical emergencies that may be life-threatening or limb-threatening. They are available to the public as a means to save you or your family and give care to those who need it most first.

Urgent care clinics are open to the public and focus on minor injuries, illnesses, or other services.

Some of these medical care services that urgent cares offer treatment for are:

● Bruises, bumps, strains and broken bones
● Insect bites
● Animal bites
● Viruses (like COVID-19)
● Cold and Flu
● Asthma
● Eye Injuries
● Earaches and Infections
● Respiratory Infections
● Vomiting and Diarrhea

The difference between urgent care clinics and emergency hospital care is the severity of the issue. If the condition is life-threatening or limb-threatening, this renders a visit to an emergency room. If the condition is a minor illness or injury or you need another service like a physical or lab test, take advantage of the convenience of an urgent care clinic and the affordability urgent care clinics offer.

Urgent care provides a combination of benefits that your family doctor and emergency room centers cannot match.

Some of the top benefits that Urgent Cares offer are:

● Better hours than the average doctor’s office
It can take weeks to get in to see your family doctor, while urgent care offers same-day availability.
 
● Urgent care save you money vs going to an emergency room for minor injury and illnesses
Urgent care is known to be significantly cheaper than going to an emergency room, it could also be cheaper than visiting your primary care doctor.
 
● Urgent care provides quicker service than an ER can, and may even be faster than your family doctor’s office
Visiting an emergency room can offer a wait time that could lead to several hours to be seen, while urgent cares offer walk-in service and can usually get you in within minutes of arriving, depending on how busy they are.
 
● Many urgent cares offer walk-in services with no appointments necessary
Waiting for an appointment to see your family doctor when you are not feeling well can become frustrating and even uncomfortable. However, you can go to urgent care whenever you need to get experienced medical care.
 
● Urgent care also treats serious problems, depending on the severity of the problem.
If you have a life or limb-threatening emergency, emergency care will be the place to visit for help. Anything minor even stitches can be helped through an urgent care clinic.

If you have a non-life-threatening illness or injury, visit Columbia Clinic Urgent Care for effective treatment. For more information, please contact us or book an appointment online. We serve patients from Tibbetts St Portland, Milwaukie OR, Oak Grove OR, Stark Street Portland, Fairview OR, Happy Valley OR, Gladstone OR, Cedar Mill OR, Tigard OR, Lake Oswego OR, Tualatin OR, Oregon City OR.