Self care is important. In this day and age, too few people keep that in mind. There is so much that goes into maintaining a truly healthy lifestyle, from eating right and exercising to finding emotional and mental clarity. Of course, on top of that, there are the outside stressors and dangers to our wellbeing, of both a physical and mental nature.

During this tumultuous sociopolitical time, many people are worried or confused about their health insurance. Some people still didn’t have it in the first place. In these types of situations, it is important to know where to turn, should you find yourself in need of medical help. There are a multitude of walk in clinics that provide care and treatment for an array of medical needs, and it will end up being much more affordable than an extremely pricey emergency room visit.

Get to know your local urgent care clinics

Ideally, everyone would have quality health insurance and access to quality health care. Unfortunately, this is not a reality yet, and there is quite a bit of work to do across the country before that will be the case. But if you do find yourself without health insurance or a primary physician, you should at least set up a plan in the event that you need medical attention. Urgent care walk in clinics make medical care much more accessible than an ER visit or sometimes, more so than waiting for an appointment at an overbooked physician’s office. And what you will likely find is that the level of care and the capabilities of these types of clinics rival if not surpass what you would find when you finally make it into a random doctor’s office.

What makes a walk in clinic so accessible?

Apart from being able to walk in without an appointment or your primary physician being on staff, urgent care facilities are often open longer hours than a typical doctor’s office. About 85% of these urgent care clinics are open every day of the week, several with later hours. These centers can also treat a wide range of illnesses, injuries, and conditions. Think about the fact that every year there are about 6 million people across the country who break a bone. Around 80% of urgent care facilities have the resources needed for providing fracture care. Other capabilities of many of these facilities include lab services, physicals, x-rays, and so much more.

Your goal is to stay healthy. Hopefully you are doing that to the best of your ability. But just in case, check out the local health clinics closest to you, so that you have a backup plan if you need it.