The Savannah, Ga., area is seeing a growth in urgent care facilities brought on by a perfect healthcare storm: a shortage of primary care physicians, overstretched emergency rooms and newly insured patients, according to a story on the Savannah Now website.
One of the fastest-growing segments in healthcare, urgent care facilities are filling the gap for those who have non-life threatening medical problems and at lower costs than going to the emergency room, the article said.
According to the Urgent Care Industry of America’s annual benchmarking study, there were 9,000 of these centers in the U.S. in 2012 with growth estimated at 10 percent per year.
In Savannah, urgent care clinics have popped up at strategic points around the area, catering to different communities and clientele.