How is an urgent care center different from an emergency room?
While both terms sound like they apply to the same medical service, hospital emergency rooms differ from urgent care centers in some very important respects. Urgent care centers are equipped to handle conditions such as broken bones or non-life-threatening emergencies. Hospital emergency rooms, on the other hand, are geared toward dealing with life-threatening emergencies. Urgent care centers may not be open 24 hours a day, while hospital emergency rooms are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The most noticeable difference may be price. With trained cardiologists and other specialists on staff, emergency rooms are expensive. Urgent care facilities, however, tend to be more reasonably priced. Ultimately, the choice of which center to visit depends upon your condition. If you have suffered injuries that could be considered life-threatening — such those sustained in a car accident — you should go to an emergency room. But a cut or minor injury that requires immediate care but proba
