Urgent care process changes at Tribal Health & Wellness Clinic

Effective Monday, April 6, the Grand Ronde Health & Wellness Center is changing the same day appointment process to improve access to care for those who have urgent needs.

Every day there will be a designated provider who will see only patients needing urgent care. The no appointment necessary care be will provided on a first-come, first-served basis for those with urgent/acute needs.

Examples of urgent/acute needs include lacerations, strains, sprains, ear infections, bladder infections, sore throats, cold/flu, cough, rashes/allergic reactions, pink eye, pregnancy tests, sexually transmitted diseases, lice, abdominal pain, shortness of breath and chest pain.

Medication refills are not urgent/acute, but a limited (not more than 14 days) supply may be given to hold a patient until their scheduled appointment with their primary care provider. The appointment will be scheduled before the patient leaves the Health & Wellness Center.

Narcotic medication refills will ONLY be done through a patient’s primary care provider during a scheduled visit.  Urgent care will NOT refill any controlled substance.

All patients arriving at the Health & Wellness Center will need to check in at registration and be screened by a registered nurse. The patient will be asked to fill out a form describing the symptoms he or she would like to be treated for in urgent care. This will assist triage staff in providing the best care that day. After the patient has filled out the questionnaire and visited the triage nurse, he or she will be:

• Put into an urgent care doctor’s schedule, or
• Scheduled for an appointment with a primary care provider (PCP) or
• Referred to the appropriate level of care/emergency room.

Patients arriving with chronic problems/issues will be scheduled for an appointment with their primary care provider after being screened by the nurse.

Urgent Care hours: 8 to 11 a.m. and 1 to 4 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, and 9:30 to 11 a.m. and 1 to 4 p.m. Thursday.

Our goal is to see everyone who presents during these hours. However, based on the number of patients that present, staff may have to redirect some to the most appropriate resource after being screened by our nurse.

This change is expected to increase efficiency and improve access for patients. Staff will monitor the progress of this new system and will make any necessary modifications to improve patient flow. Feedback once this new system starts would be appreciated. Masi.