Our law firm specializes in the defense of hospitals, nurses, doctors, medical groups and urgent care centers. In the past few years, our work on behalf of urgent care centers has been increasing significantly as their presence and importance within the healthcare system in Southern California has dramatically increased.
An urgent care center is not a hospital emergency room, although it offers some but not all of the same services and diagnostic testing abilities. Rather, it is more like a doctor’s office at which you do not need an appointment. Its function within the healthcare system is to act as a screening facility for patients to determine if they need to see a physician, medical specialist or be hospitalized. Simple healthcare, which could otherwise be provided in a doctor’s office, is also available.
Consistent with their role in the healthcare system, urgent care centers are often staffed with non-physician healthcare providers, such as licensed nurse practitioners and physician assistants. When an urgent care is staffed by a physician, that physician is usually a general practitioner or family doctor working part time at the center. Occasionally, an emergency room physician will staff the urgent care center and, on very rare occasions, a Board Certified emergency room specialist might be available.
The Malibu area is fortunate to be served by Malibu-St. John’s Urgent Care Center, which is not only centrally located, but is staffed exclusively by Board Certified emergency room physicians. At the Malibu Urgent Care Center, you will be seen by a physician who has the same or more experience and qualifications than you could expect to find at an emergency room at a major hospital trauma center.
Since there are no hospitals in Malibu, and very few physician offices staffed either full time or part time, our urgent care center is often the only available healthcare provider in the area. Everyone in Malibu should consider himself or herself extremely fortunate to have Board Certified emergency room physicians locally available for their routine, as well as urgent, healthcare needs.
Craig S. Dummit
Attorney at Law