Healthy niche

Becki Genne tried to get her son in to see the pediatrician last week, after the 4-year-old spent several days coughing, sneezing and feverish. But since hundreds of other little kids are also coughing, sneezing and feverish this time of year, Genne couldn’t get an appointment.

So, that’s how they wound up at FirstCare in Millwood, one of more than a dozen urgent-care centers in eastern Washington and North Idaho.

“His doctor was full, we couldn’t get in,” says Genne, who was drawing pictures with her son Hunter while waiting to be seen at FirstCare.

Urgent-care centers – walk-in clinics where you can be treated for a minor injury, sore throat or other nonemergency – have been around since the 1970s. But they have become increasingly more popular in the last several years.

“It’s an extremely rapidly growing niche of health care,” says Dr. David Stern, an urgent-care physician in Illinois who serves as communications director for the Urgent Care Association of America. “It is largely driven by the fact that there’s large numbers of healthy people out there who want care for acute problems without going to the emergency room.”

But the clinics – despite the word “urgent” in their name – are not to be used for emergencies.

“If somebody has warning signs of chest pain, abdominal pain, especially if they’re sweating or pale, we usually try to make sure they’re stable and get them to the hospital emergency room,” says Dr. Steve Thomas, medical director for FirstCare.

On a recent day at FirstCare in Millwood, an elderly woman who had fallen and bumped her head was directed to the emergency room at Valley Hospital and Medical Center for further treatment.

“Some people misunderstand the concept of urgent care and think it’s an emergency department that just happens to be in your community,” Stern says. “If you think you have an emergency, go to the emergency department.”

Empire Health Services operates four FirstCare clinics around eastern Washington, employing some 13 physicians, Thomas says. Rockwood Clinic also operates several urgent care centers, as does U.S. HealthWorks. There are several single-office clinics in the area as well.

“I would say, right now, the market is saturated,” Thomas says. “But it’s good for the patients because, on average, the waiting times won’t be as long.”

But patients might expect slightly longer waits at urgent care centers in coming weeks. It’s prime time for walk-in clinics, with cold and flu season underway.

“It’s sort of like summertime at the beach,” Stern jokes.

Most urgent care centers see lots of otherwise healthy people who have an acute problem. Once people start developing serious or chronic conditions, they turn to their family physician.

“People who are young and healthy are utilizing it,” Stern says. “A lot of people are trying to fit things into the edges of their lives. We’re a sort of a drive-through mentality … Now it’s almost to the point where we drive through for health care as well.”

Hunter and his mom spent about 45 minutes waiting to be seen by Dr. Susan Ashley.

“I want to look in your ear and see if I see any potatoes in it,” Ashley says to Hunter.

While Hunter played with her stethoscope, Ashley told his mom that everything looked fine in his exam. She said to expect it to take 10 or 11 days for the boy to feel back to his old self.

“Let it run its course,” she tells Genne.

And with that, Hunter picked out a sticker and he and his mom were on their way.