Welcome to this issue of Urgent Caring, where we proudly celebrate the relentless pursuit of Urgent Care clinicians to pioneer progress within the Urgent Care field. In the continuously evolving healthcare system, Urgent Care centers have demonstrated not only resilience but how crucial our services are for the communities we serve, especially during times of crisis – in addition to helping overwhelmed Emergency Departments.
Urgent Care centers have expanded rapidly because of longer hours, quick access, location convenience, gaps in primary care, and high costs of emergency room visits. The growth highlights the crisis in the U.S. primary care system. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, a shortage of up to 55,000 primary care physicians is expected in the next decade.
Healthcare challenges are shaping the way we deliver essential medical services to our communities. As we embark on this journey together, let’s not forget how Urgent Care Centers are pioneering efforts to achieve high-quality care and increase accessibility to meet the growing demand, all while navigating the challenges to care like staffing shortages, burnout and limited access to primary care services.
Urgent Care leaders continuously try to find ways to overcome these challenges, solidifying the importance of UCCs within the healthcare system.
With this in mind, we want to celebrate the remarkable experience that was the recent meeting of the Clinical Consortium, which brought together Urgent Care medical thought leaders to discuss important topics in Urgent Care: Antibiotic Stewardship, leadership in Urgent Care, forging a path to excellence, staffing shortages (a constant challenge), and the role of Urgent Care with primary care services. We want to thank everyone who attended and the presenters who made the event such an impactful experience. We cannot wait for next year’s meeting!
Urgent Caring continues to expand and serve as a reliable source addressing unique clinical cases and high-yield educational topics to help you during your day-to-day clinical challenges at work. We want to thank the new members of our Editorial Board and our section editors for their continued support! If you want to join the team, do not hesitate to reach out to us. We are advancing the specialty together and need to support each other in this journey.
Last but not least, we want to thank our peer reviewers for this issue: Sean McNeeley, MD, FCUCM, Joseph Toscano, MD, FCUCM, Ivan Koay, MD, and Brigham Temple, MD. We appreciate your expertise and commitment to Urgent Care.
Thank you all for your continued support in our collective pursuit of advancing the specialty of Urgent Care medicine and making a positive difference in the lives of those we serve.
