24/7 Healthcare Creve CoEur

Google the word ‘urgent’ and you’ll find:

ur·gent
/ˈərjənt/    adjective

1. (of a state or situation) requiring immediate action or attention.

When I decided to start an urgent care business, this is what I had in mind. Since 1995, I have remained an active emergency physician and I wanted a place which was just like the ER only more affordable, faster and therefore more sensible for minor emergencies. 

Obviously the major emergencies (i.e. a stroke, heart attack or getting hit by a truck) are always best evaluated in the emergency room, but minor ones, like a laceration, a dislocated finger, a UTI or a nasty ear infection to name a few, are perhaps not ideal situations to go to the ER, and these conditions represent many of those that you see occupying ER Waiting Rooms all over the world. 

If it’s an emergency, why would they put you in the waiting room? Surely, true emergencies should be seen in the Emergency Room.

Given that the problem is less than an emergency but still needs to be seen soon, the word, “urgent” seemed just right. In fact, the definition, “...requiring immediate action or attention.” is spot on. 

Since opening our first location in March 2009, I always wanted to get to what was truly urgent, and be open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. However, as anyone growing a practice is acutely aware, you can’t always do great and wonderful things until you can afford them. And by afford them, I don’t mean with bank loans or private equity financing. No, it was always a fundamental principle that our facilities should never ever be in debt, and thus be immune to bankruptcy. 

We were finally able to afford to go 24/7 at our Downtown location last year in November 2018, and it really was the best thing we ever did. Not only did we achieve the goal of being able to provide immediate attention for illness and injury (even in the middle of the night) but we also saw a dramatic increase in patients. People discovered we were open late, in the middle of the night, and even on holidays. And through word of mouth, it’s now known that 24/7 Healthcare Downtown provides the only 24/7 urgent care in the Midwest. 

Now, as of September 9th, 2019 Creve Coeur Urgent Care is also open 24/7!
So, out of the 120 clinics in St. Louis that go by the title “urgent care”, only two—our locations in St. Louis City and County--are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

We believe, the two most important features of delivering acute medical care for injuries and illnesses are:

1. Accepting all patients, rich or poor--being accessible to everyone and never turning anyone away.
2. Always being open, so that nobody will ever find that they cannot get the care they need.

Patients in the County will soon have an alternative to the ER if they have a minor emergency, and compared with the ER, they’ll also have lower copays, shorter waits, superior care and better outcomes.

Sonny Saggar, M.D.