Beginning this Saturday, Feb. 5, Clearwater Valley Hospital and Clinics will offer an urgent care service open on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Patients will check in at the ER entrance but will be seen as a clinic patient.
“We are very excited to offer this service to the community,” says Nick Box, PA-C. “We know that everyone is busy and it can be difficult to get off work during the day to get you or your child in for that sniffly nose or possible sports injury.
“One way that CVHC has tried to help that issue is with the evening clinics, offered on Mondays and Thursdays; however, this still may not work for parents with kids in sports or other after school activities. For that reason we are now offering a weekend option,” says Box.
“Clearwater Valley Hospital and Clinics strives to offer quality healthcare close to home. We know that sicknesses don’t follow the nine to five hours of typical clinics, so we decided to offer a Saturday urgent care so that our patients won’t have to travel the river road to Lewiston when they just can’t wait until Monday to get in to see their doctor,” says Vicky Petersen, Director of Physician Services.
Common reasons to visit Urgent Care include colds, earaches, minor upper respiratory infections, sprains, strains, and minor athletic injuries.
“Should you present to the urgent care with symptoms such as difficulty breathing, chest pain, stroke symptoms such as weakness, sudden vision changes, confusion or face numbness, that will be still be an emergency room visit, as those symptoms are more critical than what urgent care is designed for,” says Box.
Patients will check-in for urgent care at the ER entrance. “By offering the option for patients to be seen in an Urgent Care we will be able to save them money since they won’t have to be admitted to the ER for an ear infection, etc. We feel our community really deserves the convenience and money saving opportunities an urgent care will offer,” says Box.
CVHC is a certified Patient Centered Medical Home and the principles of a Medical Home include team work between providers, mid-levels (Physician’s Assistants and Nurse Practitioners) and outside specialists, premium quality and safety, enhanced access to care and affordable care.
“As we strive fully embrace the principles of the Medical Home model providing increased access to care becomes very important and adding Urgent Care to our list of services will help us continue to do that,” explains Box.
The urgent care will be on a first come, first served basis. For more information please call 208-476-4555.
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