Find Care Now: Urgent Cares Provide Access & Convenience at an Inconvenient Time
Urgent Care with Dr. David Remmer
The last time you got sick, was it at a convenient time?
Of course it wasn’t, says Dr. David Remmer, Medical Director of Urgent Care at Lakeland Regional Health. “There is never a good time to get sick. But we have four convenient Urgent Care locations and we’re opening a fifth in Highlands City soon. We have extended weekday hours and weekend hours. So, when people need us, we are here and available to care for them.”
Lakeland Regional Health currently operates Urgent Care locations at the Kathleen Campus and at Lake Gibson in North Lakeland, at Lake Miriam in South Lakeland, and on the Pablo Campus near Southgate. Urgent Care clinics are open 8AM-8PM Monday through Friday and 8AM-5PM Saturdays and Sundays. You do not have to be an established LRH patient to visit an Urgent Care location.
Dr. Remmer and his team are happy to see patients taking advantage of Lakeland Regional Health’s new Find Care Now service, which allows patients to find the Urgent Care location most convenient to them and schedule a same-day appointment, let Urgent Care know they are on the way, or just walk in. Being able to make an appointment or alert the team you’re coming both reduces time spent in the waiting room and helps you see the doctor and start feeling better more quickly. You can access Find Care Now through the MyChart patient portal or the LRH website.
Dr. Remmer has been practicing medicine for 22 years and is a big proponent of primary care. “We would rather folks’ first call be to their primary care physician, but that’s not always practical,” he says. “They might be on vacation or having a particularly busy day that would make it difficult for you to get in quickly enough. Or it may be in the evening or on the weekend. That’s exactly when you should head to Urgent Care. We can bridge that gap and see the patient to take care of whatever needs to be taken care of. And if they aren’t established with a primary care doctor because they’re new in town or for whatever reason, we can even help them get set up with one.”
How sick do you have to be to go to Urgent Care?
Urgent Care clinics frequently treat patients suffering with asthma, bronchitis, cold and flu symptoms, earaches, minor back and shoulder pain, minor burns or lacerations, allergies and rashes, sprains, and common infections.
Not everyone with a stuffy nose or nagging cough needs medical attention; sometimes they may just need to stay home for a day or two, get some rest, and drink plenty of fluids, says Dr. Remmer. “However, if you have severe symptoms, or if you’ve had symptoms for some time and aren’t getting better, or if you have underlying conditions that put you at risk for developing into something more severe, you probably should be seen.”
At the other end of that spectrum, Dr. Remmer and Urgent Care physicians sometimes see patients who really should be in the Emergency Room. “If a patient truly has a life-threatening condition – if they are having a stroke or a heart attack, for instance – we will stabilize them and then activate EMS,” he says.
He adds, “Or sometimes, a patient’s condition may not be life-threatening, but they still need to go to the Emergency Room. Maybe they thought they had a kidney infection, but we found it was appendicitis and that they are going to need surgery.”
In those cases, he says, the patient may be able to be driven to the Emergency room by a family member or friend. The Urgent Care team also will alert the Emergency Room that the patient is on their way and tell them which tests had already been run and why they are being sent to the ER.
That communication can help the patient have a more positive experience, lessen their anxiety, and even help them begin to feel better sooner.
“I think sometimes people aren’t sure what to expect in an Urgent Care setting,” Dr. Remmer says. “Our focus is on being accessible, convenient, and meeting the needs of the patient in a caring way.”
The urgent care you need when you need it now.
Use Find Care NOW to let us know you’re on your way. Find Care NOW streamlines your registration process and lets you schedule an appointment — before you even leave the house.