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Emergency department or urgent care? Doctor explains when to go
Summary
Dr. Patrick Rogers of Raritan Bay/Old Bridge Medical Center tells listeners when to seek emergency care versus urgent care, stressing that time‑sensitive symptoms — chest pain, difficulty breathing, slurred speech — require an ED visit and that when in doubt, patients should come to the emergency department.
Amy Alonso, host of the Think Old Bridge podcast, asked when a person should choose an emergency department over an urgent care center. Doctor Patrick Rogers, chair and medical director of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Raritan Bay Medical Center and Old Bridge Medical Center, said the primary distinction is time sensitivity.
"When we think of medical emergencies ... you're thinking of time sensitive disease processes that need to be intervened on in a very short period of time," Rogers said, noting that emergency departments can manage everything from minor complaints to heart attacks, strokes and sepsis. He listed chest pain, shortness of breath, slurred speech and sudden numbness or weakness as examples that merit ED evaluation.
Rogers also cautioned that some patients repeatedly present to urgent care for the same complaint and, if symptoms persist or worsen, should follow up with a primary care doctor or present to the ED for more definitive care. The show cited national visit figures while framing the conversation; the episode quotes "over a 155,000,000 visits annually" to emergency departments and a second urgent care figure as stated on the program.
The most practical takeaway Rogers offered was a conservative one: "If there is a question or if there is a doubt ... Please just come to the emergency department," he said. Alonso closed by directing listeners to the hospital system's emergency services page for more information.
