Welcome to the West End Urgent Care Centre
Hospital emergency departments tend to be the go-to for people when they’re sick or injured, especially after hours when family doctors or nurse practitioners aren’t available. But if your medical issue is not an emergency, you should head to an urgent care centre.
Wondering why? Our Dr. Kuldeep Sidhu, chief of emergency medicine, explains while showing you around our West End Urgent Care Centre.
Know where to go
An urgent care centre is an excellent place to go to for urgent matters when you can’t see your family physician or nurse practitioner, and it’s not an emergency. This could be for medical issues like coughs, colds or flu-like symptoms, if you have cuts that may need stitches or if you have stitches that need to be taken out, and possible strains or sprains. Hamilton’s urgent care centres even have x-ray and ultrasound machines.
Urgent care centres are staffed by emergency-trained doctors and nurses with the same level of expertise that you would have in an emergency department. However, typically the wait time is significantly shorter than the emergency department – some days, up to two hours less.
This makes these locations a great alternative to an emergency department. If however, your medical issue is life-threatening, be sure to visit an emergency department or call 9-1-1.
Urgent care centres in Hamilton
There are two urgent care centres in Hamilton. The HHS West End Urgent Care Centre on Main Street West in the west end of Hamilton and St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton’s Urgent Care – King Campus on the east side of Hamilton near Stoney Creek. Both centres are open seven days a week with evening hours.
Note that patient parking for the West End Urgent Care Centre is off of Macklin Street.
We hope you stay happy and healthy all year, but if you do need medical care, consider visiting an urgent care centre. For more information about health-care options in Hamilton, visit needadoc.ca.
