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Urgent care helps make up for hospital closures

04.16.2012

Exorbitant increases in healthcare costs don't only affect patients. Doctors, insurers and hospitals feel the pinch as well. In recent years, this has led to an increase in the number of hospitals that closed down operations because they were unable to keep up with soaring costs.

Fortunately, urgent care advantages have enabled smaller providers to pick up the slack and ensure that communities do not experience any major disruption to the availability of care. These types of facilities are generally less expensive to operate than large hotels, which is partly responsible for the growth in urgent care over the last few years.

The communities of Barnwell and Bamberg Counties in South Carolina recently experienced how urgent care can fill the void left by hospital closures. The Times and Democrat reported that the local board recently voted to shut down operations after filing for bankruptcy. However, the health system will open an urgent care facility in the community to ensure that there is no interruption in the availability of care.

"I can tell you that we’re working right now on an urgent care center that will have radiology, mammograms, ultrasound and a blood drawing station. They will have nurse practitioners and a medical director," Mary Valliant, the incoming CEO of the health system, told the news source.

The Urgent Care Association of America estimates that the industry added more than 300 locations across the country from 2009 to 2011. It is largely because of these types of urgent care advantages that the model of care has prospered. Locations can be set up at relatively little expense and offer a wide range of services to fill gaps in the availability of care.

Categories: Urgent Care Services