Urgent Care
Palo Alto Clinic
Palo Alto Clinic We are open for your urgent health needs from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., every day of the year. What is an urgent health care need? The Urgent Care Center of the Palo Alto Medical Foundation provides high-quality medical care expeditiously and compassionately. Physicians, physician assistants and nurses work closely as a team to take care of each patient. When a medical problem arises that requires immediate attention, it is often difficult to know if it is truly an emergency, or whether it is simply an urgent medical issue. What is the difference? Generally, an emergency is a condition that may threaten an individual's life or cause impairment. On the other hand, urgent care can treat medical problems such as broken bones and minor burns that, while not emergencies, require care within 24 hours. If a medical problem is life-threatening, call 911 immediately, and care will be provided at the nearest emergency room (ER). However, ER visits should be reserved for true emergencies, such as life-threatening accidents or chest pain. A visit to the ER without an actual emergency can be costly and inefficient, and detract medical care from individuals who truly need emergency care. For urgent medical concerns, patients should call PAMF first. Even if a patient's own physician is not available, physicians are always on call, and advice nurses can handle many problems over the phone during regular business hours. If the medical problem is not life-threatening, but warrants immediate care, PAMF's Urgent Care Center is open 365 days a year, from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. What happens when I arrive? Upon arriving at the Urgent Care center, you will sign in with the registration clerk so we may obtain the information necessary to treat you. As soon as an examination room is available, you will be called by a nurse, who will take your vital signs and a brief medical history. A physician or certified physician assistant will then see you as soon as possible. How long will it take? Patients are triaged shortly after arrival in the Urgent Care Center. This means that their medical conditions are assessed, and critically ill or injured patients are seen first. This is likely the case if you see Urgent Care patients who registered after you being called first. Generally, all other Urgent Care patients are seen in order of arrival. Also, we do share a reception area and waiting room with other departments; you may see patients called for scheduled appointments in other departments. We see patients without requiring an appointment. This makes prediction of patient flow and wait times difficult and uncertain, and we ask for your patience if you are here at a time when many other patients have also dropped in to be seen. Rest assured, we recognize that your time is valuable and are working as hard and as fast as we can to take care of you quickly. What happens next? You may be treated and discharged shortly after being examined by an Urgent Care provider. You need not "check out," unless the reception desk has asked you to do so. If your problem is more complicated, you may be asked to wait for results from laboratory tests, X-rays, or consultations. Blood tests generally take at least an hour to be run. X-rays are reviewed right away by your Urgent Care physician, and again by our radiologists within 2 days, when any new findings would be reported to you. Medical treatments may be provided in the Urgent Care Center, such as breathing treatments, or intravenous fluids and medications. This can take minutes to hours. If you need to be admitted to the hospital, we will take care of the arrangements. We will expedite any necessary follow-up referrals to other departments at PAMF.
We want to give you prompt care! Please take the time to give us your feedback at www.pamf.org/bravo, so that we can continue to improve our service. |
