Illness and Injury Don’t Observe Holidays. Your Patients Need to Know If You Do

After years of preventive social distancing, separations due to illness, and anxiety stoked by the COVID-19 pandemic this Thanksgiving especially is likely to be a time for gratitude, gatherings with friends and family…and accidents associated with carving, cooking, and getting a jump on hanging holiday lights, never mind food poisoning and collisions on crowded roadways. If you’ve done your job in marketing your urgent care center and providing excellent care, many patients will automatically think to come to you when they need immediate care. Finding your doors closed upon arrival would not only delay that care, but also leave them frustrated or even, warranted or not, angry with your operation. This is not to say that you need to be open 365 days a year—though that is a viable option in many cases, as detailed in Making a Business Case for Urgent Care Holiday Hours, an article currently in the JUCM archive.Whether you opt to stay open or not, ensure that your website and Facebook page reflect your availability, and consider emailing, Tweeting, and displaying signage to let patients know when and where you’re ready to see them.