The Record Special Sections Health Quarterly 07-26-2020 | Page 3

PHOTO COURTESY OF
VALLEY HEALTH SYSTEM
During the COVID-19
pandemic, patients
are required to adhere
to the Safe Visit
protocol measures
in place at Valley
Medical Group
Primary and Walk-in
Care Centers, which
include wearing masks
and having their
temperature taken
upon arrival.
Also, patients are
asked to come
to appointments
unaccompanied
whenever possible.
HEALTH QUARTERLY / ADVERTISING SECTION
Urgent Need for Immediate
Care Grows in Popularity
By MARGIE DRUSS FODOR
Special to Health Quarterly
One recent weekday, Danielle
Rosato of Waldwick woke
up with a neck so stiff, she
couldn’t move. She debated
on whether to go to an urgent care
center or the emergency room. A
quick call to an urgent care center
down the street prompted her
to make an appointment there later
that morning.
After meeting with a doctor at
the Valley Medical Group Primary
and Walk-In Care Center, Rosato
was prescribed medicine for her
neck spasm. Within a few days, she
felt better.
“They probably did exactly
what would have been done in an
emergency room, but it took less
time,” Rosato said. “I don’t even feel
like it’s an urgent care. It’s our town
doctor.”
Urgent care centers, such as
the one in Waldwick and others in
Bergen, Essex and Passaic counties,
are giving patients alternative health
care options. They can also help
alleviate overcrowding and stress on
hospital emergency rooms.
A number of urgent care centers
are off-site extensions of local hospitals,
where they can treat non-lifethreatening
conditions and injuries.
They are staffed by medical professionals,
offer quick, on-demand
attention typically 7 days a week,
and on holidays. Some offer remote
— or telemed — appointments where
patients can talk with, and see, a
physician from the comfort of their
home computer or phone.
The attraction of urgent care
centers is on the rise, especially
during these times where people
want to protect themselves from
the coronavirus. The total number
of urgent care centers in the U.S.
reached 9,616 as of November 2019,
a growth of 9.6 percent from
the prior year, according to the
annual Benchmarking Report from
the Urgent Care Association (UCA).
The report also showed that almost
97 percent of urgent care patient
visits lasted one hour or less, said
the UCA.
Here are examples of neighboring,
on-demand and urgent, health
care options:
VALLEY MEDICAL GROUP
PRIMARY AND WALK-IN
CARE CENTERS
Dr. Seena Shekari, D.O., medical
director of the Valley Medical Group
Primary and Walk-In Care Center
in Waldwick, said of the 10 Valley
Medical urgent care centers, seven
“hybrids” offer primary care,
as well. Besides emergency visits,
hybrids can monitor high blood
pressure, diabetes, other chronic
conditions, and conduct physicals.
“We help offload a lot of the
minor things from the emergency
room. It saves the ER for those truly
emergent visits — life-threatening
visits,” Dr. Shekari said.
Sometimes, however, a patient
comes to an urgent care center, but
ultimately needs an ER. Dr. Shekari
said he recalled an instance when
a patient had a stroke while having
a physical and another time, a
patient with a skin infection needed
intravenous antibiotics. In both cases,
an ambulance transported these
patients directly from the urgent
care to the hospital.
Ariana Wiecenski of Westwood,
who uses Valley’s Waldwick location
for urgent and primary care visits,
said she’s particularly pleased with
the hybrid model.
“Dr. Shekari really cares about
you as an individual. You are not just
another chart,” she said.
Information about Valley’s urgent
care centers, affiliated with The
Valley Hospital, is online at www.valleyhealth.com/services/walk-in-care.
See NON-EMERGENCY Page 6
NORTHJERSEY.COM | SUNDAY, JULY 26, 2020 | 3
RWJ
Barnabas
HEALTH
Hospital Index
& Updates
n ‘Exercise Is Medicine’ at Valley
Health Lifestyles Fitness Center.
n Healthy LifeWays: Valley Hospital’s
Center for Pediatric Wellness and Weight
Management.
Pages 2 & 16
n Advanced Treatments for COVID-19:
Teaneck Father of Three Successfully
Battles Virus for 7 Weeks at Holy Name.
Pages 4 & 5
Englewood Health
Pages 7 & 11
n World-Class Robotic Surgery:
Multidisciplinary Team at Hackensack
University Medical Center Is Using
State-of-the-Art Technology
To Advance Robot-Assisted Surgery.
Pages 8 & 9
n Live Streaming Lets Parents View
Infants in Level II Special Care Nursery.
n Clara Maass Medical Center Recognized
Among Top 5 Percent for Safety.
Pages 12 & 13
n Expanded Pediatric Intensive Care
Unit Opens at Atlantic Health System’s
Goryeb Children’s Hospital.
Pages 14 & 15
Health Quarterly
Summer 2020
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Health Quarterly/Summer 2020
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