Practice Management
Since the announcement in early 2024 anticipating the retirement of CEO Lou Ellen Horwitz, the Urgent Care Association (UCA) and its board of directors have engaged in a national candidate search and succession planning to lead the association going forward. This week, UCA named Steve Sellars as its new CEO. Well known by industry stakeholders, Sellars brings more than 20 years of leadership experience in urgent care to the table. He previously served as CEO …
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Several pharmaceutical manufacturers have announced the start of their outgoing shipments of influenza vaccines to healthcare providers and pharmacies in preparation for the 2025-2026 flu season, including GSK, CSL Seqirus, and Sanofi, according to a post by CIDRAP. Historically, every spring, a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory committee meets to recommend which flu strains to include in the seasonal vaccine—recommendations that allow manufacturers to begin production. At the same time, the Centers for Disease …
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A new joint venture combines a hospital system in New Jersey with an urgent care network, creating AM/PM Urgent Care with Englewood Health. Established in 2013, AM/PM Walk-in Urgent Care is owned by CEO Wesley Thek, MD. Its partner, Englewood Health, has 100 locations, delivering inpatient and outpatient care. The combined entity serves 2 counties in New Jersey with 8 urgent care centers as well as virtual care. Over time, the plan is to expand …
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Fifteen years after the initial private equity platform investments in NextCare, FastMed, and MD Now, the number of urgent care rooftops backed by private equity has grown to 18% of the nation’s 14,423 urgent care centers, as of May 12, 2025. The total number of urgent care rooftops with private equity investment grew by 11% from 2,359 last reported by JUCM in April 2024 to today’s 2,622. Much of this growth has occurred organically and …
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A 42-year-old man presents to urgent care on a Sunday afternoon. He explains that he was playing a game of pick-up football in his neighborhood and suffered a rough kick to the face from another player. His nose is swollen, and he’s clearly in pain. An x-ray is ordered to capture a lateral view of the nasal bones. Review the image and consider what your diagnosis and next steps would be. Resolution of the case …
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A 56-year-old female with no past medical history presents to urgent care with 2 episodes of chest pain that woke her up this morning. She had 2 additional episodes while walking and while bathing earlier in the day. The episodes lasted about 10 minutes each, and she is currently free from chest pain. The pain is pressure-like and left-sided, radiating to her back. An ECG is obtained. View the ECG and consider what your diagnosis …
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Urgent Message: Although greater occipital nerve block has demonstrated positive effectiveness and few risks as a treatment for acute headache, it is not commonly used. With more familiarity, urgent care clinicians may consider it a useful treatment modality. Elizabeth Reynolds, PA-C, MS Key Words: Migraine, Headaches, Nerve Block Abstract Headaches are a common presentation in urgent care clinics. Various medication options are available but can sometimes be limited for use due to allergies, side effects, …
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Urgent Message: Rupture of a Baker cyst is a rare complication and may manifest with the classic crescent sign of ecchymosis and swelling over the medial malleolus. Given the similarities in presentation to acute deep vein thrombosis, it is essential for urgent care clinicians to be able to differentiate between these diagnoses. Caroline S. Mifsud, DO, MS; Jennifer Ganzhorn, MD; Michael B. Weinstock, MD; Gregory M. Garrison, MD, MS, FAAFP; Elizabeth Westby, MD Keywords: Baker …
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Urgent Care people would rather drive change than reactively manage its aftereffects. The same is true of all of us who lead the Urgent Care Association (UCA), College of Urgent Care Medicine (CUCM), Urgent Care College of Physicians (UCCOP), Urgent Care Foundation (UCF), Commission on Ambulatory and Urgent Care Quality (CAUCQ), and our regional chapters. To drive change, you must evolve fast enough to stay ahead, but evolving is usually a messy business. That’s been …
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In cases of cardiac arrest associated with an opioid overdose, outcomes may be improved if bystander CPR is administered that includes both mouth-to-mouth rescue breathing as well as chest compressions, according to a large cohort study of 10,923 out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) cases in British Columbia. As published in JAMA Network Open, researchers investigated the impact of bystander CPR techniques on neurologic outcomes, including among opioid-associated OHCA (OA-OHCA) cases. Of the 1,343 OA-OHCA cases studied, …
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