What is the difference between an urgent care center and an emergency room?
Urgent care centers tend to care for a narrower scope of patients, often excluding large segments of the public such as pediatrics, and elder care. Urgent care centers are not open 24/7/365, do not typically participate with Medicare or Medicaid programs, and are often staffed with non-emergency medicine board trained practitioners. Some do not have a doctor on site, instead relying only on a nurse practitioner or physician assistant to care for the patients. Urgent care centers will not typically care for patients who are unable to immediately pay for their care. The Methodist Emergency Care Center offers a full scope of medical services to all patients, regardless of the acuity of their illness, age or ability to pay for services. We are staffed with all emergency medicine board-certified physicians, and nurses with specialized training and certification in emergency medicine. We are open 24/7/365. We are a department of The Methodist Hospital, enabling us to handle cases that requir
