Immediate care offers new health option in Naperville
The wait at an emergency room can be long for minor health problems. But for patients near north Naperville, a new immediate care facility opened by Edward-Elmhurst Health could be the cure.
The facility at 1804 N. Naper Blvd. is a middle ground between walk-in clinics the health system offers at some Jewel-Oscos and the main emergency rooms at Edward Hospital and Elmhurst Memorial Hospital, said Pete Schubel, co-medical director of immediate care and emergency rooms.
While walk-in clinics are staffed by physician assistants, the immediate care center has two full-time physicians with at least one available between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekends and holidays.
"There's a place for everyone to get in and get seen in a timely manner," Schubel said.
Immediate care doctors, nurses and patient care technicians are prepared to handle injuries and illnesses such as sprains, strains, fractures, cuts, wounds requiring stitches, fevers, cold, flu, ear aches, sinus infections and urinary tract infections.
The facility's staff of 16 providers works together in an effort to get every treatment started for every patient within 10 minutes of arrival.
"It's a total team approach," Schubel said.
On the first floor of an office building at Naper Boulevard and Diehl Road, the new facility offers eight exam rooms with patient beds and a ninth for the quickest procedures such as treatment of earaches or sore throats, said Melissa Lund, clinical leader of immediate care.
It also has an X-ray room where people can schedule a pre-surgery imaging session or have their spine examined to help diagnose scoliosis, Lund said.
Immediate care physician Dr. Gary Cianci said patients who come in suspecting a broken bone can have the joint X-rayed and the image read quickly to determine the severity of the injury.
The new facility joins similar immediate care locations Edward-Elmhurst Health offers in Addison, Lombard, Bolingbrook and Oswego.