Urgent Care Is Adapting to Fill Various Niches During the Pandemic; Don’t Get Left Behind

As we’ve discussed in previous issues of JUCM News, urgent care was largely left out of the mix when public health officials were strategizing how to cope with the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many centers scrambled to get testing supplies and then to establish themselves as testing centers; other, multilocation operators established some locations as “COVID-free” zones while instructing symptomatic patients to visit one particular clinic. Next Level Urgent Care is going another route by launching several clinical trials related to the pandemic—a move that will likely contribute to our collective understanding and response to the disease, but also help Next Level in gaining awareness and drawing in new patients. While one trial is focused on frontline healthcare workers, the company is recruiting select members of the general public for others. “We are currently involved in several research trials of medications that may prevent an individual with direct exposure to a COVID-19–positive individual from getting the virus. For the latest updates on these studies, click here,” a page on the company’s website suggests. Whether it’s research, testing programs, or (down the road) vaccination initiatives, many urgent care operators are adapting to ensure their survival. If you haven’t already, take a hard look at your resources and consider where you can contribute.