Your healthcare options begin with your primary care provider, but where can you go when he or she is unavailable?
“Having a primary care provider offers you many benefits,” says Joshua Deere, MD, medical director, primary care at Altru Health System. “You can form a relationship that improves your quality of life, reduces your risk of emergency room use, and lowers your cost of overall care.”
Often, patients who find their primary care provider unavailable head to the emergency room, but that’s not necessarily ideal. “In general, emergency departments are designed to take care of life- or limb-threatening medical emergencies,” says Christopher Boe, MD, chair of emergency medicine and medical director of the emergency department at Altru. “This includes heart attacks, stroke, traumatic accidents, lacerations, broken bones, serious falls, particularly in the elderly and very young, and acute medical illness felt to be life-threatening.”
In addition to primary care providers and emergency care, Altru Health System offers numerous care options for pressing but nonemergency care. These options include:
- A walk-in morning clinic, open from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. at Altru Family Medicine Center, for coughs, colds, and other minor concerns
- Same-day acute care appointments available from 5 to 8 p.m., Monday through Thursday, at Altru Professional Center
- Same-day appointments with family physicians at Altru Family Medicine Residency
- Urgent care at Altru Hospital, available from 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., for care that is urgent but not an emergency
For more information and locations, visit altru.org. Anytime you need emergency care, dial 911.
