Despite studies showing that more people are flocking to local urgent-care clinics rather than to primary care doctors when in need of medical assistance, primary care clinics in Chico haven’t seen a decline.
A poll conducted by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in seven different states over the last two years shows an increasing number of adults and families will go to urgent-care clinics before their primary care doctor because they believe it is more time efficient.
The Argyll Medical Group in Chico has not seen any changes in its appointments over the last five years.
Immediate Care on Vallombrosia Avenue has five physicians and five nurse practitioners, but only three of the doctors are full time in Chico.
“We see around 80 to 120 patients a day,” said Tanya Diaz, a receptionist for the center. “We recently had to start turning away patients that come in for chronic pain. That’s for primary doctors.”
Diaz also said Immediate Care sees a decline in patients on the weekend. The clinic is at its busiest on weekday afternoons.
“Our numbers haven’t really changed in the three years that I have been here,” Diaz said.
A recent poll showed that Chico State students were unhappy with the Chico State Health Center and occasionally opted for the Immediate Care Medical Center. Some said they won’t go back to Immediate Care because of bad experiences.
When Kluver was still taking nursing classes, she had to go to Immediate Care when she had a urinary tract infection late on a Sunday.
“I have never been so poorly treated as I was at Immediate Care,” Kluver said. “I waited for four hours to be seen, and when I was in the room the doctor and the nurse were making jokes about my sexual activities. It was humiliating.”
Diaz said that even though the clinic’s numbers are high, it doesn’t have a high patient turnover rate.
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| Photos by Whitney Urmann |
-Whitney Urmann