VMC expands Urgent Care
Valley Medical Center offers many of us the convenience of neighborhood clinic facilities for emergency and urgent care. Months ago, I wondered what was the difference? Well, they must be reading my blog, because my question has been answered.
Urgent is less life threatening, and less expensive, than emergency. Paradoxically, the Urgent Care Clinic Manager Cathy Roberts states that the wait time is “much shorter” for the urgent care facilities. So the more life-threatening your situation is, the longer you have wait. She goes on to explain “Because Emergency Departments must maintain extreme levels of staff and equipment, they have to charge a premium for visits. When a medical issue is not life-threatening, patients can save a lot of money by going to urgent care.”
There is also an advantage to using one of VMC’s clinics, instead of a stand-alone clinic. They are able to provide a continuity of care and access to patient records. And VMC clinics have a direct link to the hospital system, where more comprehensive services are immediately available, if needed.
Coming soon, will be Valley Urgent Care, located near VMC’s hospital campus. Ideal for those situations that don’t quite require (the cost of) an emergency room. Other urgent care facilities are extending their hours to meet growing demand.
The two latest urgent care facilities are
Covington Urgent Care
253.595.2006
16850 SE 272nd Street, Covington
M-F 8am-8pm; Sat & Sun 8am-4pm
Renton Highlands Urgent Care
425.656.5518
451 Duvall Ave NE Suite 120, Renton
M-F 8am-8pm; Sat & Sun 8am-4pm
February 29th, 2008 at 9:15 pm
Thanks for posting that. We had been wondering about the “urgent care” facility in the Highlands. We’re assuming that urgent care costs more than making an appointment to a regular VMC doctor?
February 29th, 2008 at 9:55 pm
I don’t know about cost comparison. Some of the things on their “urgent” list don’t sound very urgent to me.
Sounds like this topic could use some more research.
May 16th, 2008 at 12:28 am
I hope people don’t get the wrong impression from the previous two posts. My family has used the VMC urgent care clinics at Covington and Renton Highlands and found them to be just excellent, and less expensive than a trip to the family doc.
I wonder if you’re thrown by the word “urgent,” Lynn. It doesn’t mean that you’re supposed to go there for emergencies. It’s for things that are urgent, meaning you need to see a doctor, but *not* actual emergencies. If you break your leg, go to the ER. For just about anything short of that, things that don’t require specialists or longer-term care (and I’m sure some things that do), try walking in to one of the VMC urgent cares. They seem to be opening a bunch of them and so far I’m impressed.
And short waiting times! I can’t believe how fast they saw us. Very helpful if you have kids.