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What Is URGENT CARE CLINIC?

What is Urgent Care?

Urgent Care is a place where you can receive medical care at a moment’s notice.  This type of clinic does not require appointments allowing you to walk in when you need help.  Most are open extended hours, including evenings and weekends.  Urgent Care also provides expanded services, such as onsite X-rays and lab testing.  

How is Urgent Care different from my primary care doctor?

Urgent Care clinic is geared towards treating acute health care needs and minor medical emergencies.  This means you can be treated right away with stitches for a cut, splinting for a fracture, removal of a splinter, or draining an abscess.  A primary care doctor sees you regularly to prevent illness and take care of chronic health problems, such as diabetes and high blood pressure.  Urgent Care can also fill in and treat you for these illnesses or care for you when you don't have a doctor or can’t get an appointment in time to see your regular doctor.  

How is Urgent Care different from the ER?

Urgent Care can treat many medical problems that you may think only an ER can do.  For example, if you have a bad stomach bug and become dehydrated, you can get blood tests, X-rays and receive IV fluids and medications at a high-level walk-in clinic such as ours.  ERs are geared for more serious medical problems such as heart attack or stroke.  If you need more detailed imaging such as a CAT scan or ultrasound right away, then the ER is the place to go.  However, if you do not need these immediately, our Urgent Care doctors can order CT, MRI, ultrasound often within 24 hours.  Because they handle severe medical emergencies, ERs are also a lot more expensive and involve a longer wait time for treatment.  An ER visit can cost up to 10 times more than an urgent care visit. (1)  Furthermore, total visit time is often double that of a walk-in clinic. (1)

How is Equity Urgent Care different from other walk-in clinics?

Our clinic is unique in two important ways.  One, you are cared for by board certified physicians with both ER and primary care experience.  With other walk-in clinics, you are often treated by staff who are not medical doctors, such as nurse practitioners or physician assistants.  While these midlevel providers can address common illnesses, they often lack experience and training to effectively treat more complicated health issues and more serious injuries.

Two, our goal is to support our community and contribute to improving health worldwide.  The summer our clinic opened we gave free sports physicals.  We also improved access to Covid vaccinations by giving them on a walk-in basis.  Our clinic also offers a discounted rate for you if you do not have insurance.  In addition, we are proud to contribute to the Houston Food Bank.  In support of global health efforts, we also contribute 10% of profit to health initiatives, such as Doctors without Borders and Partners In Health.

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