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A walk-in clinic is your best bet...most won't take your insurance...or will require a hefty co-pay...but they will treat you. Thank Obama for your predicament.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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The current trend here now is an urgent care along with an emergency room. We recently went to the urgent care for my wife, and they sent her down to the ER. After a bunch of tests they ended up sending her by ambulance to the actual hospital, 5 miles away where she was admitted and stayed overnight.
Unless it seems life-threatening, always start with the urgent care. Our primary is not even open on weekends, but they probably would have sent her home to take Tylenol.
A walk-in clinic is your best bet...most won't take your insurance...or will require a hefty co-pay...but they will treat you. Thank Obama for your predicament.
MinuteClinic in CVS and Doctor's Express (chain of urgent care clinics) both take my insurance.
Because I'm a cancer survivor, I can normally get in to my doctor's practice pretty quickly - though normally I won't see my usual doctor. One of the first things I ask when I was looking for a new PCP is how they handled sick cases. My practice has 4 family practitioners and several nurse practitioners and physician's assistants - and at least one of the later is "on call" for sick cases one day a week rather than scheduling appointments. It can be tricky during flu season, but I can always get in within 24 hours. I just often choose to go to urgent care because there are many closer to home or work and I can be in and out within half an hour, no appointment needed.
Years ago (pre-Obamacare), I had a little trouble getting in to see my new PCP on a sick visit. When a lymph node popped up on my collar bone they rushed me in within 2 hours of my call. They don't tend to wait around for true health risks.
When I had food poisoning with severe vomiting, diahrea, and dehydration, I went to an Urgent Care Center. They put me on an IV there with antibiotics, and released me after about 5 hours at 11 PM. The place was DARK when I left but that doctor and nurse stayed with me until I could go home.
Could I have gone to the ER for something like this? Of course, but what would that have cost? They probably would have admitted me for "observation" overnight. It was about $2,000 at the UCC. The Urgent Care Center did take insurance too.
Some conditions simply cannot wait 3 weeks for an office visit. Ever have a little child with a severe earache "after doctor's office hours?" This is where the concept of walk in clinics and urgent care centers fill the void.
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