When You Need Care Now But Aren’t Likely to Die, Urgent Care is the Ticket

Some good reasons to opt for urgent care over the emergency room when you can, from the WSJ:

• There are an estimated 10,000 urgent care centers in the United States and another 1,400 are expected by 2020. 
• Increasingly, hospitals are building, acquiring or partnering with urgent care providers.
• Wait times are 30 minutes or less whereas a wait in the emergency room can run eight times that length. 
• The average cost at an urgent care center is about $150, compared to $1,354 for an emergency room visit. 
• Centers are usually open evenings and weekends when doctors’ offices are closed.