How urgent is "Urgent Care"?

 

Just recently, I had to take my daughter to an urgent care facility. It was a sunday afternoon and I had no other choice unless I waited wait a long 24 agonizing hours and listening to "my throat hurts" continuously in order to go to her pediatrician the day after. So I got her dressed and off we went....

The office opened at eight o'clock. We were there at 8:30 that morning and as I proceeded to the counter to fill out the paper work, the lady behind the counter had said to me, " You know there is a two hour wait?" I was blown away. It was 8:30 in the morning the office opened at 8! There were two people ahead of me. I looked at her, as she starred and looked at me to see what words were going to come out of my mouth. I started to fill out the paperwork, and then came to a stop. I said to her, "Are you supposed to say that to everyone that comes in here or is this really going to take 2 hrs?" She said "yes, its going to be AT LEAST two hours." I put my pen down and said thanks and started to walk out the door. She then stopped me and asked if the care was for my daughter or myself. I told her it was for my daughter and she then directed me to an urgent care facility that was for children only. I took the address and rushed right over there.

Once I pulled in the parking lot the hours on the door said that they opened at 10 am. It was 8:45am so I waited in the parking lot along side another mom that was there with her son.We waited respectfully in our cars under the pouring rain and about five minutes to ten o'clock a mini van pulls in and parks. A women comes out of the car, picks up her baby boy out of the car seat and starts to walk up to the door. The door was locked and so she starts to knock aggressively. The other women and I look at each other and start to get out of the car and walk up to the front door. As the doors open, the third women gets in the door and runs up to the counter. She begins to sign in. The poor lady that was there since 8:00am, the one that was there before me then says to the medical assistant at the counter, "You know, I was here first and the lady behind me (which was me) was here second." I literally wanted to dig a hole and sink in it at this point. I know she was right but seriously? Well, then the assistant starts to say "ok ok'. It then becomes my turn to sign in. The assistant asks me if I was second. I answered yes and she said ok. I sit down after filling out the paperwork and the third women that raced to the counter in the beginning races up to it again. She begins to say, "You know, I thought this was a first come first serve basis. I didn't know there was a line in the parking lot. I am still new to this I'm sorry but I do have to work. Do y'all have to go to work cause if you don't can I go first? " Well, the lady that was there was not having it. "Just because you have to go to work, doesn't mean you get to go first and because I stay at home I have to go last. I was here first I get served first." is what she said. Here I am, sitting in the waiting area just waiting for my daughter's throat to be looked at thinking to myself, maybe I should've waited at the other urgent care? I mean, by this time its 10:15 another 15 minuets and I would've seen someone at the first urgent care facility. Right? Well, and here I am thinking, isn't this supposed to be "urgent care"? Why do we need to wait 2 hours?

Well, long story short, the lady that was in the parking lot first was then seen first, I was seen second, and the lady that had snow in her pants and needed to be seen before it melted was seen last. My daughter ended up having a bad cough that needed some azithromax and  albuterol,  omnicef for an ear infection. We are on the road to recovery thank goodness and from now on I'm going to really try and stick to seeing our pediatrician instead of dealing with crazies and 2hr wait urgent care's!