As your primary care provider, we look forward to seeing you and your family for all your primary healthcare needs. If you injure yourself or your kid suddenly gets sick in the middle of the night, you may be unsure whether you should go to the nearest ER or wait until morning to visit an urgent care center or make a same day appointment with your family doctor.
How do you know what type of doctor appointment you need?
If you are experiencing a medical emergency, dial 911 or go to the nearest emergency room.
Your Doctor’s Office
Your family doctor should be your first call in non-emergency situations. Your primary care doctor knows you and your health history, including what medications you are taking and what chronic conditions you have that may impact your treatment options. Calling your doctor’s office may also help you to avoid the long wait times typically found in an emergency department. Plus, the cost of a visit to your primary care provider’s office is much lower than a trip to the emergency room. Even if your family doctor is unavailable or not an expert in the area of care you need, they can refer you to a specialist or another medical professional.
Urgent Care or Retail Health Clinics
If you need medical care outside of regular office hours; an urgent care center or a retail health clinic could be a good option. Retail health clinics are walk-in clinics found in many large pharmacies and retail stores. They are often staffed by nurse practitioners or physician assistants and are designed to treat simple conditions, like colds and flu or ear infections. Urgent care facilities have doctors on staff and can provide care for a wider range of conditions such as sprains, burns, or cuts that need stitches.
If you need urgent care, call River Bend Medical Associates. We offer same-day appointments to our patients with an illness or injury.
Emergency Rooms
Go to the emergency department for acute and life-threatening conditions. ER, triage is designed to care for sick or injured individuals based on the severity of their health condition. Patients with respiratory or cardiac issues, head injuries, profuse bleeding, or open wounds are always the first-priority. That is why there can be long wait times for people with less severe medical issues. If you need routine care or have a minor ailment, save your time and money by instead calling your doctor’s office for a same-day appointment.
River Bend Medical Associates provides same-day care for non-life-threatening injuries or illnesses.
After Hours Care at River Bend
At River Bend Medical Associates, a physician is always available for urgent medical problems when the office is closed. The on-call doctor can be reached through our answering service by calling our regular office number at 916-392-4000 or 916-392-4939 and following the directions. Please use discretion when calling after-hours as this is for urgent medical problems only. In cases of medical emergencies, go directly to the appropriate emergency room or dial 911.
At River Bend Medical Associates, your health is our priority. We work with local urgent care centers to ensure you have access to after-hours care. Our on-call physician can provide an after-hours phone consult, but urgent care facilities allow for a medical assessment. Urgent care facilities offer many of the services that an ER does like x-rays, and they can treat non-emergency conditions more efficiently. By calling our on-call physician first, you can work with the physician to determine whether you can wait to be seen during our business hours or if you should visit one of the following urgent care facilities.
PDFs that list after-hours urgent care locations
Routine Primary Care Visits
When you do not require urgent medical attention, but still need routine medical care, it’s a good idea to wait until you can schedule a regular appointment with your family doctor.
If you don’t need same day urgent care, it is best to wait or schedule ahead for routine primary care types of visits (see list below) This allows our primary care team to triage and provide urgent medical care to those who have more severe conditions that require an immediate response.
- Wellness Exams
- Camp Physicals or Sports Physicals
- Allergy Testing
- Prescription Refill Appointments
- Routine management and monitoring of chronic conditions such as: blood pressure checks for patients with hypertension, cholesterol checks for those with high cholesterol, and A1C checks for type 2 diabetes.
At River Bend Medical Associates our primary healthcare team of family doctors, PAs, NPs, nutritionists, and support staff are highly skilled and dedicated to the healthcare needs of your entire family. From routine exams to illnesses and injuries, we are here to provide comprehensive and continuous care for you and your loved ones.
Make your urgent same day care appointment today by using the Patient Portal or using the Message Us button at the bottom of your screen.