One of the toughest decisions a parent must make is deciding when to seek medical attention when a child does not feel well or is injured or hurt. When facing an unexpected medical situation, it might be necessary to go to an urgent care center or emergency room to make sure everything is OK.
As a physician, I often see parents bring their child in because they feel something is just not right. In many cases, these visits are unexpected or come at odd times, when getting an appointment to see your primary care physician or pediatrician is just not possible.
At Linwood Health Center and at Eskenazi Health Center Primary Care (formerly the Primary Care Center), we see both scheduled and urgent needs patients. We also have a nurse triage phone line available 24 hours a day in case questions come up. What I often tell my patients is if there is any question or concern, please seek medical treatment right away. One’s own intuition is often correct.
The Wishard-Eskenazi Health Women’s Visit Center (WVC) is another resource available for patients. The center is located on the third floor of Wishard Hospital’s Myers Building and sees both OB and GYN patients.
If it is a true emergency, such as heavy bleeding, large open wounds, chest pain, major burns or a severe head injury, it is always best to go to an emergency department, or in many cases, to immediately call 911. Indianapolis has some of the best emergency departments in the nation, with two Level I trauma centers at Wishard Hospital and Indiana University Health Methodist Hospital.
If the medical emergency falls in a category just below a severe injury or illness, an urgent care center might be a good and efficient option. Typically, an urgent care center is not as busy as an emergency department and thus the wait isn’t as long and the medical fees often are less. Urgent care centers also help to reduce the patient load at emergency departments.
Urgent care centers and retail health clinics typically treat things like:
• Colds
• Sprains
• Ear infections
• Minor infections
The ability of an urgent care center to provide immediate care for acute, non-life threatening illness and injury is a critical component of any community’s health system. It is important that there is cooperation between patients, primary physicians, emergency departments and urgent care providers to create a network of care options for patients.
There are many urgent care centers located throughout Indianapolis. These centers are often located in retail health clinics, drug stores, community health centers and on hospital campuses. The Eskenazi Health Center Primary Care – Pediatric Urgent Visit Center is available to all pediatric patients for urgent care needs. Located on the second floor of Eskenazi Health Center Primary Care, at 1002 Wishard Blvd., the urgent visit center accepts patients 0 – 17 years of age, as well as older patients who receive care in Wishard’s Teen Care. The center offers X-ray and pharmacy services, and no appointments are necessary.
Linwood Health Center also offers urgent care and X-ray services. A nurse is available 24 hours a day to address any questions or concerns by calling 317-655-2255.
Nydia Estrada-Nunez, M.D.
Family Medicine
Linwood Health Center
Wishard-Eskenazi Health