Build Strong Relationships by Stepping Up When Your Community Needs You—Like NOW

Urgent care providers want to help people. That’s why they chose their profession—and there may no better time to put that instinct front and center than when a community is in dire need. The interesting thing is, even if you put your “usual” way of doing business on hold you can still wind up initiating or solidifying relationships with the people who keep your business afloat. Take what one urgent care provider is doing for people in North Carolina as they face the dangers and damage of Hurricane Dorian. WakeMed is offering free telemedicine services for those who are unable to travel due to storm damage. In promoting the short-term initiative they’ve been able to affirm their goal of “seeing” a patient within 10 minutes. Yes, the company is surrendering its usual fee for those who log in with the specific promo code. But whatever short-term loss they incur will likely be made up (and then some) by those people who remember that the company stepped up when the public needed them most. An added benefit is that WakeMed could consolidate its telehealth staff in an area that might have been less affected by the storm, allowing them to stay safe while continuing their mission. Of course, sometimes urgent care centers are among those businesses challenged by storm damage themselves. Would you be ready if a natural disaster threatened your ability to stay open? If you don’t have a disaster plan, or want to ensure your plan is a viable one, read what a roundtable of experienced urgent care leaders advise in Disaster Strikes—What’s the Plan for Your Urgent Care Center?, in the JUCM archive.