Exeter, NH – We’ve all been in that situation: it is a Saturday morning and your child wakes up with a fever or a sore throat. Your pediatrician is not available and you and your family are scheduled to leave for vacation later that day. If you live on the Seacoast of New Hampshire, your options have been limited for many years. Either go to the Emergency Room at one of the local hospitals, or wait it out and see if your child feels better. Or maybe you get a call from the school nurse or athletic trainer, your son rolled his ankle playing soccer after school. He can barely put any weight on it and it is swelling up quickly. It is now after five and the primary care and specialists’ offices are closed.
If you live on or visit the Seacoast of New Hampshire or any of the surrounding communities, you finally have another option. In December of 2011, Access Sports Medicine & Orthopaedics opened Access Walk-In Injury Clinic (AWIC), the Seacoast’s only walk-in clinic offering walk-in care for minor injury and illness. For over 30 years, Seacoast area residents have been able to rely on and trust the highest quality of care offered to them in the most convenient manner possible from the physicians of Access Sports Medicine & Orthopaedics. Now, with the opening of AWIC, area residents and visitors of the Seacoast have walk-in access to these same great services and more, with no appointment necessary.
Access Walk-In Injury Clinic treats a wide range of injuries and illnesses on a walk-in basis. The clinic is open Monday through Thursday from 7:30am to 7:30pm, Friday from 7:30am to 7:00pm and Saturday from 7:30am to 5:00pm. With extended and Saturday hours available, AWIC is open when you need it most and when accidents or illnesses happen. Featuring on-site x-ray and open MRI, access to casting and splinting supplies, physical and occupational therapy and other orthopaedic services, AWIC patients can be accurately diagnosed and begin treatment quickly.
According to Medical Director Geoffrey Shreck, MD, “One of the greatest benefits to patients of Access Walk-In Injury Clinic is the direct access to the specialists at Access Sports Medicine. A patient can come in with a wrist fracture, get an x-ray, be casted and scheduled for a follow-up all in the same visit. This can eliminate the extra appointment and inconvenience for the patient.”
Access Walk-In Injury Clinic’s services are not however limited to orthopaedic and sports-related injuries. AWIC also treats most common minor illnesses or medical conditions including cold, flu, rash, strep throat, UTI, or stitches. AWIC also has the capabilty to perform STAT labs including urinalysis, pregnancy test and rapid strep along with the ability to administer immunizations.
Working in cooperation with the Bakie Center at Access Occupational Medicine, Access Walk-In Injury Clinic also offers numerous occupational medicine services with no appointment necessary. Some of the occupational medicine services offered include drug and alcohol testing, work-injury treatment, pre-placement exams and testing, and DOT exams.
The experienced team of providers at AWIC includes an Occupational Medicine and Board Certified Internal Medicine physician and a licensed Family Nurse Practitioner. In many cases, with direct access to the physicians of Access Sports Medicine & Orthopaedics, patients can be seen by a specialist the same day that they walk in. This can eliminate extra trips to the office, expedite the recovery and save patients time.
A trip to the emergency room is often accompanied by a lengthy wait and a significant cost. Most major insurances cover a portion of the emergency room visit but the patient will be required to pay towards a deductible or an expensive ER copay. At Access Walk-In Injury Clinic, patients rarely have to wait more than a few minutes. With an experienced staff and providers on hand and close by, patients can be seen quickly to speed up the process and save them time.
“Most patients that come in will pay only a copay or the same amount that they would pay for a regular doctors’ office visit. People tell me all the time that they cannot believe how quick and easy their visit was and that they only had to pay a copay. As a result of their positive experience, most of our referrals come from previous patients’ friends and family,” according to Eric Cimon, Community Relations Director for Access Walk-In Injury Clinic. Some insurance plans also offer special benefits and discounts for patients that use Walk-In Clinics or Urgent Care centers rather than going to an Emergency Room.
So by now you must be asking yourself, how do you use Access Walk-In Injury Clinic? It’s simple, just walk in, any time Monday through Saturday after 8:00am. Located at One Hampton Road in Exeter, AWIC offers the same great services (and more) that you have come to expect from Access Sports Medicine & Orthopaedics, with no appointment necessary. For a complete list of services and hours of operation, please visit accesswalkin.com or call 603-775-7750. It is always best to check with your individual insurance carrier for available benefits and to determine anticipated cost of services at a walk-in clinic. Uninsured patients will be responsible for the entire cost of the visit and all services rendered.
