Should I Go to Urgent Care, Convenient Care, or the ER?

It’s a Sunday afternoon, and you haven’t left the bathroom, convinced you have a life-threatening stomach bug. Or it’s Friday night and your boisterous boy just fell off the top bunk. Now he’s howling in pain with a bump on his head. Why do these things always happen on weekends or after hours?

Can urgent care handle this?

Urgent care centers are like on-demand versions of your family doctor, with added services such as x-rays, IV fluids, blood and urine testing and, at some centers, MRI and CT scans. You don’t need an appointment, and these locations typically have evening and weekend hours — making them more convenient than a doctor’s appointment and less time-consuming than a trip to the ER.

Urgent care centers have at least one doctor on staff. You may be seen by a nurse practitioner or physician associate, who will confer with the physician, if needed.

If an illness or injury is something you would normally take to your primary care physician, urgent care is a good alternative. For example, if your daughter routinely comes down with a cold when school starts, urgent care is an option if you can’t immediately bring her to your pediatrician.

The staff at urgent care centers can stabilize conditions including:

• ankle, wrist, elbow, clavicle injuries; some broken bones
• bleeding
• common sprains
• ear pain
• first-degree burns
• high fevers
• painful urination
• persistent vomiting
• severe, ongoing diarrhea
• shallow cuts
• sore throat

After stabilizing you, an urgent care provider may refer you to a specialist for follow-up care or additional testing to rule out an underlying condition. For more severe injuries or complicated conditions that require immediate medical attention, they will direct you to an ER.

Depending on your health insurance coverage and copays, an urgent care visit may cost you a bit more than a doctor visit but less than a trip to a hospital emergency room.

Have you been to a convenient care clinic?

Another option for efficient medical care is visiting a UHealth Clinic at Walgreens. These are not urgent care centers, but rather convenient care retail clinics located within select Walgreens stores throughout South Florida.

At these clinics, board-certified nurse practitioners can diagnose and treat many of the same medical conditions that an urgent care center can handle, but retail clinic copays are typically more affordable than urgent care center fees.

These clinics also offer virtual/telehealth visits to answer questions about symptoms you or your family are experiencing. Same-day and evening in-person appointments are accepted, based on availability.

At the UHealth Clinic at Walgreens, you can receive treatment for:

• asthma
• bladder and urinary tract infections (UTIs)
• bronchitis
• chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
• diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting
• ear wax removal
• earache and ear infections
• fever (100.4 F and higher)
• flu
• headaches and migraines
• joint pain
• laryngitis (hoarse or weak voice)
• minor back pain
• minor injuries
• mononucleosis (mono)
• oral discomfort
• pink eye (conjunctivitis) and styes
• scratched eye/eye abrasions
• seasonal allergies
• sinus infection (sinusitis)
• skin conditions including acne, head lice, eczema/psoriasis, insect stings/bites, cold sores, poison ivy, hives, rashes, scabies, or shingles
• sore throat and strep throat
• swimmer’s ear
• tuberculosis (TB) testing
• upper respiratory infections (stuffy nose, sore throat, cough, sneezing, low-grade fever, tiredness, body aches)

At many of these retail clinics, you can also receive:

• epinephrine auto-injectors, prescription refills, and personalized instruction
• medical guidance and information about motion sickness, traveler’s diarrhea, and foodborne illnesses
• on-site nebulizer therapy, prescriptions for nebulizer medicines, nebulizer consultations
• personalized travel health plans based on where you’re going and your health needs: immunizations and preventive medicine for travel-related illnesses
• physical exams for school, sports, camp, and work
• quick and confidential testing for sexually transmitted diseases and STI counseling, as well as HIV PrEP prevention and nPEP therapies
• seasonal allergy testing, allergy shots
• smoking cessation support and therapies
• some prescription and over-the-counter medications at affordable prices
• trustworthy medical guidance
• vaccines for children and adults

To make an appointment for an in-person visit at a UHealth Clinic at Walgreens, call 888-689-8648 (UM4U) or schedule your visit online. Click here to schedule a telehealth or virtual visit.

When you need mental health services

With the Walgreens clinics’ behavioral telehealth services, you can access UHealth mental health care from your smart phone, tablet or computer. You can speak with a board-certified psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner, backed by UHealth’s psychologists and psychiatric providers.

You can receive an assessment, diagnosis, personalized treatment and a follow-up plan for conditions including:

• anxiety
• depression
• grief and adjustment
• life changes
• obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
• stress and worries
• posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

Your treatment may include talk therapy, medication, and other therapies and strategies for stabilizing your mental health, managing your emotions, and improving your quality of life.

Click here to schedule a telehealth or virtual visit. If you are having a mental health emergency or feel that you may harm yourself or others, call 9-1-1 or the National Suicide Hotline (dial 988) instead.

When to head to the ER

More serious injuries and complex conditions require immediate, intensive medical intervention. If your situation meets the following criteria, do not hesitate to go to the ER:

• bleeding that does not stop with local pressure
• burns (second- and third-degree burns, bubble forming around a burn, burns where the elbows or hands bend, and facial burns)
• difficulty speaking or understanding speech
• extreme pain in the stomach or middle back
• eye injuries
• fainting, clumsiness or unsteadiness that comes on rapidly
• fever with rash
• injuries from a fall or while taking blood thinners
• mental confusion
• ongoing chest pain, especially if spreading to the arm or jaw or pain combined with sweating, vomiting or shortness of breath
• pediatric head injuries
• rapid vision changes (blurred or double vision, complete or partial vision loss)
• seizures with no history of epilepsy
• severe heart palpitations
• some broken bones and dislocated joints (especially if you see a significant deformity or protruding bone)
• sudden testicular pain and swelling
• sudden, severe headache
• trouble breathing
• vaginal bleeding during pregnancy
• weakness or paralysis, especially on one side of the face or body
• wounds deeper than the skin (cuts that enter a muscle or tendon, large open wounds, and facial wounds)

UHealth has hospitals throughout South Florida. Call 305-243-4000 or 1-877-243-4340 for information.

When to call 9-1-1

Always dial 9-1-1 in an emergency. Don’t waste precious time waiting at an urgent care center or clinic or trying to make an appointment with your doctor if:

• your baby or child develops a fever and becomes “floppy” or lethargic
• you’re not sure you can drive safely to the hospital
• you or another person suddenly experience serious symptoms

Originally written by Nancy Moreland. Updates by Dana Kantrowitz, a contributing writer for UHealth’s news service.

Last reviewed in April 2025 by Sarah Flory, M.S.N., APRN, FNP-BC, PMHNP-BC, Director of Clinical Operations with UHealth Clinic at Walgreens.

Originally published on: October 23, 2018

Tags: emergency medicine in Miami, emergency room, UHealth Clinic at Walgreens, urgent care, walk-in clinic, when to call 911, when to go to the ER