Well - Fall 2011 - (Page 6)

An Urgent Solution Unc Urgent care is now open. Urgent Care or Emergency Room? Patients can come to the urgent care if their primary care physician recommends it or if they have a minor injury or illness that requires immediate care, such as flu or cold symptoms, fever, sprains, sore throat or ear infection. Minor cuts and workrelated injuries are also treated at UNC Urgent Care. Patients with chest pains, head injuries or more severe medical conditions should go to the emergency room. “We want to encourage people to go to their primary care physician first,” says Meredith Trudgeon, practice manager for UNC Urgent Care, “but we’re here as a backup when your primary care physician can’t take you. We’re also here for after hours and acute situations, but we’re not an ER.” If patients have questions about whether they should come to UNC Urgent Care, they should feel freeURGENT CARE Trudgeon. “We will either UNC to call, advises AT CAROLINA POINTE II treat you here or we’ll get you to the right place,” she says. For more information about UNC Urgent Care, visit www.unchealthcare.org. n the past, if you needed to see a medical profes- sional after hours or if your primary care physician couldn’t fit you in right away, you would end up either delaying getting care or going to the emergency room. Neither option is ideal. If you wait to get treatment, the situation could worsen and require additional treatment, but if you go to the emergency room, you could be faced with extremely long wait times while patients with more serious emergencies are seen first. UNC Urgent Care opened earlier this year to help address those problems. “The UNC Urgent Care was established to serve as an added support to the primary care network at UNC Health Care, as well as to work with the Emergency Department [ED] so they’re not being inundated with a lot of the problems that could be seen in a primary care physician’s office,” says Matthew Sproul, MD, medical director of UNC Urgent Care. This is the first urgent care center operated by UNC Health Care. It is open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., and To Greensboro is located just off Interstate 40 at the intersection of Route 54 and Farrington Road in Chapel Hill. UNC Urgent Care is I-40 convenient to get to and doesn’t require an appointment. Most patients can walk in and be seen right away, and because a lab Ex it 2 73 and X-ray equipment are available on-site, the longest wait may be about 30 minutes. The benefit of being part of UNC Health Care is that the medical professionals at UNC Urgent Care work closely with other departments and physicians to make sure each patient is seen by the appropriate specialist. Also, the patient’s medical records automatically go to the primary care physician so he Fa To rr in gt Chapel Hill or she knows what treatment was provided. on Public Ro Parking ad Hardee’s Dr. Sproul says you should always call your regular doctor’s 54 y. Hw office first. “Even if it’s something that happens after hours,” he Convenient Chapel Hill Location says. “A lot of offices have triage nurses who can answer questions UNC Urgent Care at Carolina Pointe II over the phone and advise you 6013 Farrington Road, Suite 101 (919) 957-6610 about whether you need to go to Open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. the ED or urgent care.” Nantucket To Durham I-4 0 To Raleigh Sh e St ll G at as io n 1 6 Fall 2011 Well Photo: Brian Strickland http://www.unchealthcare.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Well - Fall 2011

Well - Fall 2011
Contents
UNC Health Care News
Community
An Urgent Solution
It’s Not Too Late to Get Your Flu Shot
Back in the Race
Nutrition
Calendar

Well - Fall 2011