urgent care

Definition of urgent care

1 : medical care provided for illnesses or injuries which require prompt attention but are typically not of such seriousness as to require the services of an emergency room … they have turned to one of the fastest-growing segments of American health care: urgent care, a common category of walk-in clinics with uncommon interest from Wall Street.— Julie Creswell —often used before another nounIf your leg or arm is sore and swollen, go to an urgent care center; if you have chest pain, shortness of breath or you're coughing up blood, get to an emergency room.— Rick NathansonThe athlete sustains an inversion or eversion ankle injury and is evaluated at a local emergency room or urgent care facility.— James S. Keene

2 : medical care of an urgent nature Strokes now are the focus of a broad new public-awareness campaign labeling them as "brain attacks," needing the same urgent care as heart attacks.— Marilyn Chase

Examples of urgent care in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Moody, 42, works at an urgent care clinic that has been turned into a respiratory clinic amid the coronavirus pandemic. — Mel Fronczek, The Indianapolis Star, "This nurse sleeps in a donated RV 25 feet from her family. Her boy just wants a hug.," 19 May 2020 According to the archdiocese, Kirchner, 79, was recently diagnosed with pneumonia while at an urgent care clinic. — Robert Downen, Houston Chronicle, "A priest got pneumonia then died. Now five others have COVID-19," 18 May 2020 The agency cited early data indicating the test, which has been deployed at a number of Bay Area urgent care clinics, may report false negatives. — Chronicle Staff, SFChronicle.com, "Coronavirus news from the Bay Area: May 13-14," 15 May 2020 The staff at an urgent care clinic in suburban Chicago sent him home, without testing him for Covid-19 but after advising him to quarantine. — John Eligon, New York Times, "Questions of Bias in Covid-19 Treatment Add to the Mourning for Black Families," 10 May 2020 And visits to its urgent care clinics have fallen to 1,500 a month from about 6,500 a month. — Guy Boulton, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "It's time to start getting the health care you need, even if you have been putting it off because of COVID-19, health systems say," 7 May 2020 An intake person said to go back to the urgent care clinic. — Washington Post, "This year, April was... Death," 2 May 2020 Keith and Ross, 19, and their brother Troy, 21, sister, Paris, 28, and her daughter, Logan, 7, all got tested at an urgent care clinic on Mack Avenue in Grosse Pointe Woods. — Kristen Jordan Shamus, Detroit Free Press, "Family ravaged by coronavirus begged for tests, hospital care, but was repeatedly denied," 19 Apr. 2020 They are being used at CVS and Walgreens drive-through testing locations, to test nurses and police officers in Detroit, and at urgent care centers in Chicago. — Matthew Herper, STAT, "Rapid coronavirus test, commonly used in U.S., may miss infections in some situations," 16 Apr. 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'urgent care.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.