Plains Family Medicine expands to include urgent care

Clark Fork Valley Hospital recently started offering Urgent Care services from its Plains Family Medicine office.

The new service is available Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. – 6 p.m., and Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

“Offering urgent care services will help our patients with conditions that need to be addressed today but are not an emergency requiring diagnoses or care of severe or life threatening situations,” explained Dr. Gregory Hanson, CFVH President/CEO.

Urgent care services address conditions like back or muscle pain; bronchitis; cuts and minor burns; diarrhea; earache; skin conditions; sprains or joint pain; upper respiratory infection; urinary tract infections; and fever without rash.

Examples of conditions that should be treated in an emergency department setting are things like chest pain or pressure; compound fractures with bones protruding through the skin; head injuries; pneumonia; seizures; severe abdominal pain; shortness of breath; sudden, severe headache, or paralysis or weakness; uncontrolled bleeding; and possible stroke.

Urgent care offers a quicker less expensive option than a trip to the emergency room with visit charges that are the same as a regular scheduled clinic visit.

Plains Family Medicine rolled out urgent care services in December with the arrival of Anna Marie Mitchell, APRN.

“We needed a provider dedicated to urgent care alone in order to make this happen,” explained Hanson. “Anna Marie is able to care for patients when they have an unexpected illness and then refer them back to their primary care provider for any required follow up. It’s a complimentary service to the provider coverage of primary and specialty care that is already being offered in the clinic setting.”

Hanson did mention that while Anna Marie Mitchell, APRN currently provides the majority of urgent care coverage, other providers are contributing to the new service to allow for consistent availability.

Currently, urgent care is being offered solely from the Plains Family Medicine office that is located on the hospital campus. Hanson shared, “this allows someone to be moved to the emergency room easily if it is determined their condition is more severe than initially thought.”

People in need of urgent care services can simply walk into the clinic. People who would like to schedule an appointment can call a Patient Service Representative.

Plains Family Medicine can be reached at 406-826-4810.