Urgent care facility

An urgent care facility is a walk-in clinic designated to provide urgent outpatient care for acute and chronic illnesses and injuries that aren't serious enough to require a visit to a traditional emergency department.

Minimal regulations and state licensing requirements mean the capabilities of urgent care facilities vary considerably, but facilities typically:

• Remain open 7 days a week
• Have multiple exam rooms
• Keep diagnostic equipment on site
• Staff licensed physicians, registered nurses and physician assistants
• Admit walk-in patients

Some urgent care facilities can provide care at a similar level to an emergency department and feature advanced diagnostic equipment and laboratory services. Unlike emergency departments, however, urgent care facilities are not usually mandated to provide care regardless of a patient's ability to pay. 

Urgent care first developed in the U.S. in the 1970s. Today, approximately 10,000 urgent care facilities are open across the country.