‘A Stitch in Time’ at Silver Cross Urgent Care
New Lenox resident Eileen Hostert noticed a new building going up on the Silver Cross Hospital campus earlier this year. When she saw that it was going to be an urgent care center, she filed it in the back of her mind if the need ever came.
The need came on July 6 when she and her husband Art were taking an evening walk. “I tripped on a raised piece of concrete, and in my husband’s words, I did a face plant,” she said. “My chin and face got pretty badly beaten up.”
A visit to the Silver Cross Emergency Room crossed her mind briefly, but Eileen explains, “It wasn’t that serious. And I didn’t want to take up their time and space.”
Checking on the hospital’s website, she found the answer she needed about the new Silver Cross Urgent Care Center. “They have a graphic right on their website saying what kind of injuries you should go to the ER for, and what you can use urgent care for. I fell into the urgent care category.”
As it turned out, the center had just opened earlier that day. It features six comfortable exam rooms, on-site lab and X-ray services, a procedure room, a spacious waiting room and is open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. 7 days a week.
Know Where to Go
“If you’re experiencing chest pain, trouble breathing, severe allergic reaction, symptoms of a stroke or other life-threatening symptoms, call 911 or go to the nearest hospital emergency room right away,” explains Mark Veldman, D.O., Medical Director for the new urgent care center.
An urgent care center, on the other hand, is a great option for a cut on the thumb – or in Eileen’s case a cut on the chin – that may need stitches.
“Think of an urgent care center as a substitute for your doctor when your doctor’s office is closed,” he added.
Urgent care centers offer routine injury treatment and acute medical care that a primary care doctor would typically perform in the office. That includes treating cold and flu cases, earaches, sprains and strains, minor cuts that require stitches, skin conditions, swelling or pain, minor fractures and more.
Patients at Silver Cross Urgent Care in New Lenox are evaluated and treated by certified mid-level providers (physician assistant or advanced practice nurses) under doctor’s supervision.
“They were wonderful,” Eileen added. “We wore masks. They wore masks and asked us the usual questions about COVID-19. We didn’t wait very long before being called back to an exam room.”
A physician’s assistant cleaned up Eileen’s injuries and stitched up her chin. “We had been freaking out a little bit because Art fell off his bicycle a while ago, hit his face and broke his jaw,” she said. “Luckily, I only needed stitches. We had to have been the last or near the last patients of the day because they close at 9, and we left at 9:15.”
But not before the physician’s assistant gave her the choice of getting her stitches taken out by her regular doctor, or coming back to Silver Cross Urgent Care.
“I chose urgent care,” she said. “I figured they knew the work that had been done. And when I went back, we got the same physician’s assistant. She got to see the end result of her work!”
For more information, visit silvercross.org/urgent-care. Walk-in care is available, and for added convenience, you can schedule a visit online while you wait at home or work.
