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Where should you go for your medical problem?

Do you know the difference between emergency room care, urgent care, and your medical clinic?

EMERGENCY ROOM personnel and equipment are intended to provide care for sudden and unexpected medical conditions, or the worsening of a condition, which threatens life, limb or sight, and requires immediate treatment. Emergency room considerations are usually known immediately. Care is focused on relieving serious immediate problems but is not focused on long-term care or treatment.

Examples include (not limited to): loss of consciousness, significant shortness of breath, chest pain, uncontrolled bleeding, sudden or unexpected weakness or paralysis, poisoning, suicide attempts, drug overdose. The emergency room should be available for absolute emergencies for you, your family, friends and community.

URGENT CARE and Walk-In facilities are intended to treat illness or injury that should be treated within 24 hours. The Valley View Health Center Walk-In is open after clinic hours and weekends for medical care that should not wait until next business day. Care is focused on treating immediate problems but is not focused on long-term care or treatment. The Valley View Health Center Walk-In is located at 1800 Cooks Hill Road, Suite F, in the Providence East Plaza in Centralia and open Noon to 10:00 p.m. seven days a week.

Examples of conditions that can be treated at the Walk-In (and Urgent Care centers) include (but not limited to): sprains, cuts requiring stitches, rising temperature, conditions that are serious, but not life-threatening, unresolved migraine, nausea and vomiting, animal bites, job injury.

MEDICAL CLINICS treat your immediate health concerns while managing your overall wellness. Your medical home knows and treats you as a whole. Care is focused on relieving immediate problems but also long-term care and treatment.

Examples of care you will receive at your medical clinic include (not limited to): Diabetes, Asthma, Congestive Heart Failure. . . basically any chronic long-term disease as well as colds, flu, sprains, strains, and most temporary conditions.

RESOURCES to assist in determining the level of care you require:

Call your after hour medical provider; usually available by dialing your medical clinics number. A Nurse Advice Line is sometimes available through your clinic (check their after hour recording). WebMD. com is an informative internet site.

IN A NUTSHELL:

Emergency Rooms are symptom focused for issues you KNOW need emergency medical attention.
Urgent Care centers and the Valley View Health Center Walk-In are symptom focused for issues you WONDER whether it is an emergency AND your clinic is unavailable.
Medical Clinics is for all routine and non-emergency medical problems.

Valley View Health Centers provides medical, dental, and behavioral health services to Lewis County residents, primarily to the uninsured and under-insured, with payments based on a sliding fee scale.