The term “urgent care” can be confusing for a lot of people. Urgent care provides medical treatment on a walk-in basis for those who have a minor illness or injury and not an emergency (emergencies include heart attacks, drug overdoses, cardiac arrest, seizures, etc.).

Urgent care centers can provide treatment for adults and children (over the age of one). The center’s physicians can evaluate and treat conditions such as sore throat, cough, rashes, wounds, eye complaints, fever, allergies, mild to moderate infections, broken bones and injuries.

An urgent care center technically doesn’t provide ongoing care for chronic conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, cancer or heart disease. However, such problems are often initially diagnosed in an urgent care center and patients are referred to a primary care physician when ongoing care is needed.

There is an overlap between primary care and urgent care. However, Spalding Regional Urgent Care at Heron Bay can care for your medical needs when your physician’s office is unavailable – such as late at night and on the weekends – and offers shorter wait times compared to an emergency room.

Spalding Regional Urgent Care also provides vaccinations, school and sports physicals and offers employer-based services.

Most insurance plans are accepted and may have a provision for urgent care visits, while others do not distinguish between urgent care and other services with regard to co-pays. Please check your respective plan for details.