It’s Time to Address the Disconnect Between the Public, the Media, and You

The U.S. Department of Health and Humans Services chose a handful of chain drugstores, and even grocery stores, to participate in community-based COVID-19 testing programs. No urgent care businesses. Mainstream media reports have carried misleading headlines suggesting that urgent care is “the last place you want to be right now” (one actually said that verbatim). That wrongheaded thinking is contributing to a sharp downturn in patient visits in some locations, unfortunately. The presumption is that patients are hesitant to go to their local urgent care center for fear that they’ll be at higher risk for getting the virus. While it’s true that some urgent care centers in cities with the highest prevalence of COVID-19 are testing and taking care of patients all day long, those operators have established procedures to ensure the safest possible conditions for patients and staff. Whatever your situation is during the crisis, use all your available resources—social media, your website, direct calls to frequent flyers, local media contacts—to let people know that you’re ready and able to offer safe, high-quality care on a walk-in basis, just as you’ve always been. Your business needs patients, and your patients need you.