Know Your Options - Urgent & Emergency Care

There’s no doubt about it – healthcare can be confusing. You may drive down the road and see healthcare facilities that seem almost identical and offer the same services. But, did you know you could be paying much more by choosing a free-standing emergency room over an urgent care? From the street the two locations look similar—but the bill you receive can be significantly higher because emergency services just cost more. The confusion between free standing emergency rooms and urgent care facilities has made national news.

In many cases you may not need any type of emergency room. Urgent care locations can often provide you the level of treatment you need without the higher costs.

Urgent Care vs ER

St. Vincent’s Urgent Care locations can care for various illnesses and conditions including, but not limited to:

Fractures	Sprains and strains	Lacerations
Acute illness diagnosis and treatment	Workers’ compensation injuries	Travel medicine
Back to school and sports physicals	DOT physicals	Drug screening
Urinary tract infections	Sinus infections	Occupational medicine

St. Vincent's currently has three urgent care locations: one in Ortega , one off Normandy Blvd and one in Mandarin.

Our urgent care footprint is growing too. We will open our fourth location in St. Johns County this November with additional locations across the First Coast coming soon. You can schedule your visit today online at waitathome.com.

Choosing a Full-Service ER

Unlike free-standing emergency rooms, full-service ERs are located at a hospital and are equipped to handle any emergency. Free-standing ERs may offer you convenience, but they can't guarantee you onsite treatment.

Many cases seen at free-standing ERs have to be taken to a full-service ER, meaning those patients must be transported via ambulance to a hospital-based ER like those at St. Vincent's Riverside, St. Vincent's Southside and St. Vincent's Clay County.

So when you have a true emergency, your best bet for treatment is at one of St. Vincent's Full-Service ERs. Other minor ailments can be treated for less at our urgent care locations.