More Patients Slip Sliding Away—into the Urgent Care Center

With the advent of holiday cheer and office parties comes the resurgence of cold-weather injuries, many of which will present to urgent care centers. In addition to ensuring staff and inventories are suitably prepared, some urgent care operators are also reaching out to the public with advice on avoiding injury—but also with the subtle message that their clinic is prepared to treat them at a moment’s notice. American Family Care, for example, got news stories placed in a few local media outlets near their locations. The core message was one of prevention—make sure to treat walking surfaces with salt and/or sand, wear footwear that’s suitable for walking on slick surfaces, etc.—but by supplying a physician to be interviewed by reporters AFC also painted themselves as the place to go if the need arises. Reach out to local newspapers, radio stations, and television news producers with a similar message, and think of which of your clinical staff might be most comfortable talking about illnesses and injuries that are more prevalent in colder months. For a refresher geared toward clinical staff, read Cold Weather-Related Injuries in the JUCM archive.