Not everything that needs urgent care needs a trip to a hospital. Full service medical centers make more urgent care treatment available outside of an actual hospital. A sprained joint can sometimes feel so bad you think something is broken, and if it’s a bad sprain you need medical treatment, you need to have it evaluated and your care calibrated to the type of sprain. For example the high ankle sprain is quite unlike a normal ankle sprain and requires different treatment and care, getting that diagnosis quickly means you can get yourself healing properly faster. The hospital is overkill if all you’re looking at is a sprained ankle or potentially broken leg. It’s agonizing, but waiting in a Texas hospital for a quick X-Ray and a consultation with a doctor is a waste of your time and frankly their time.
However, it’s the sort of situation an urgent care facility is perfect for. They’re not dealing with life threatening situations. As much as you might love your fellow citizens of Texas, having to sit next to them tightly, and getting jumped in line while you’re sitting there with a swollen agonized lower leg is not going to put you in a good mood or predispose you to love your fellow Texan. However, when there are less people, and less immediate disaster care in front of you it means you can get the urgent care you need quickly without tying up emergency services.
Sprains and broken bones are but one example of urgent care that isn’t suited for the hospital, but it’s a functional example because they’re common injuries, they hurt, and it’s wise to get them examined. With children it’s very important, you don’t want to mistreat an injury and leave them partially hobbled, and you don’t know if they’re in young kid stoicism, or if it doesn’t hurt that bad. A quick examination and maybe an x-ray can make it so you know what they need and how treatment has to go. Urgent care facilities, especially ones with testing options ease the pressure on the major emergency facilities in Texas, and in general allow more people to get treated more quickly. Even a bad cut can sometimes be an issue not major enough for a hospital to get to quickly. It’ll hurt, it’ll make a mess, and you’ll potentially be scared, but it’s not truly life threatening. Instead with an urgent care facility you can get it treated more quickly, and not clog up services better used for more major care than what you need.
