Walk-in urgent care services are once again available at ExpressCare located at 370 Merrimack Street in Lawrence.
To support all our patients’ healthcare needs, we will continue to provide respiratory care and treatment safely in a dedicated, isolated space at our Respiratory Illness Clinic at the same location. Walk-in respiratory care is also available.
Sports may be fun for kids and parents, but accidents happen. Around one in three children in the US who participate in sports will miss a game this year due to a sports-related injury. How can you minimize your child’s risk of injury at the next game? Here are some ideas to keep in mind:
Continue reading “How to Prevent Sport Injuries in Children”
It is likely that you will have employees who experience an injury or illness while at work which can negatively affect productivity, and ultimately, your bottom line. Sending them to Pentucket ExpressCare is a quick and convenient option.
Since Pentucket Medical ExpressCare at RiverWalk opened five years ago, a score of walk-in treatment offices have sprung up around the area. Yet from the start, ExpressCare has provided a service that no other clinic can begin to offer: concierge referrals.
As many as half of patients need to follow up with another physician or diagnostic resource after being seen at ExpressCare. It might be anything from a consult with their primary care doctor, seeing an orthopedist for a broken bone, care from a neurologist or ear nose & throat doc – the list goes on and on. Before leaving ExpressCare, these patients receive a seamless handoff to whatever specialty medical help or test they require. Continue reading “ExpressCare Goes Extra Mile For Walk-In Patient Follow Up”
Are injured basketball players causing you to modify your March Madness bracket? Over the years, many basketball injuries have happened at this crucial time of the season. Here are a few injuries that commonly occur in basketball due to overworking muscles, tendons and ligaments:
We are very pleased to share that the Pentucket Medical ExpressCare Staff have received a 2015 Partners in Excellence award in Quality Treatment and Service.
A congratulatory letter from Dr. Torchiana was sent to the homes of the team leaders this week:
“As we celebrate the 20th annual Partners in Excellence awards program, we are especially proud to present this highly esteemed award to individuals and teams for their exemplary performance and for contributions “above and beyond the call of duty” to Partners HealthCare and our member institutions.”
Waking on the morning of May 19th, out of breath and heart racing, Andrea Wheaton knew she needed medical attention. Looking back on it now, the 62-year-old Registered Nurse sheepishly admits that she should have called an ambulance, but ExpressCare was just down the street from her North Andover home. She drove.
“The receptionist took one look at me,” she says. “I guess my color was terrible. Someone came immediately out of the clinic and took me in, I was never even checked in.”
Front-line staff are watchful for potentially life-threatening situations, says Garrett Bomba, MD, Medical Director of ExpressCare.
“Any patient is brought immediately back to the doctor,” he says, “if they present with signs of distress, or tell us that they have any symptoms that suggest a more serious condition.”
It’s a policy that Andrea credits with saving her life.
Medical Assistant George Summerlin brought Andrea into Room 12, took her vitals and triaged her, immediately alerting Physician Assistant Jenny Evans.
“I found Andrea short of breath and sweaty,” Jenny recalls, “…and her vitals were abnormal – we were concerned she had lung or heart problem that needed to be emergently addressed. Because her vitals were abnormal we did an EKG, which wasn’t normal either. We gave her some aspirin just in case she was having a heart event. Her oxygen was low so I was thinking pneumonia, but her lungs were clear. She’d had recent surgery we were worried about a lung clot, having no idea that the clot was as big as it turned out to be.”
“She agreed to go to the hospital,” Jenny continues, “and that was the last we heard of her until she came to see me. She came in after she was discharged, before an appointment with Dr. Goldman. She told me what had happened and thanked me.”
“When I got to Lawrence General,” Andrea says, “The back pressure from the lung was so bad, they thought I was having a heart attack. They called Dr. (Seth) Bilazarian, who did a D Dimer – a test for blood clots then they sent me to for a CT scan. My right lung completely occluded by blood clots, and the left was down to 25 percent clear.”
“As a nurse,“ Andrea says, “I’ve seen people die from just one blood clot. The clotting I had was massive. I realized how serious this was when the hospital had my daughter come in to co-sign a living will, DNR and health care proxy.”
Andrea stopped in at ExpressCare recently to say hello and have her photo taken with some of the staff who helped her back in May. She said she was returning to work the next day.
“I just can’t say enough about the way I was cared for at ExpressCare,” says Andrea. “Right from the front staff… I never felt like they were interested in money, just making sure I’d be OK… all the way to Jenny – if had not been for them, I wouldn’t be here today.”
Nosebleeds can be caused by many things such as physical trauma, allergies, or underlying diseases that affect the blood. While nosebleeds are usually minor, it is still important to properly treat them otherwise they can cause major issues.
A big misconception and initial reaction when you have a nosebleed is to tilt your head back. This will only cause you to swallow blood, which can have worse effects than the nosebleed itself. You should sit down in a chair and actually lean your head slightly forward.
Next you need to pinch the soft part of your nose with your fingers. The pressure helps the nosebleed to slow down and prevents blood from escaping from your nose.
Applying an ice pack against your nose and cheeks will help to constrict the blood vessels and slow down the nosebleed. It also numbs any pain you may be experiencing.
Once the nosebleed has stopped, you may want to consider putting a very small amount of ointment, such as Vaseline, in and around your nostrils since dryness and abrasion add to nosebleeds. You’ll want to prevent anything that will instigate another nosebleed such as blowing, wiping, picking or rubbing your nose.
Even though nosebleeds are common for many people, it’s important to check in with a physician especially if:
The bleeding doesn’t stop after 10 minutes of treatment
A nosebleed occurs more than 4 times in a single week
Nosebleeds get more severe/painful
You are on blood-thinning medicine and are getting nosebleeds
You have any conditions that affect blood-clotting, such as liver disease
Call your physician and make an appointment if you have any questions or concerns about your nosebleeds. If you feel you need to see a doctor immediately you can be seen right away at either of our ExpressCare locations.
Did you know Pentucket Medical ExpressCare employs a software called Clockwise.MD to improve the patient’s experience in our clinics?
This allows our patients to essentially skip the waiting room all together and make a better use of their day while still getting the care they need.
Simply go to our website and click on “Reserve My Spot” and then choose one of our two clinics in either Lawrence or Andover.
Sight is one of our most trusted senses. 2,000 eye injuries occur every day and 90% of all of these injuries can be prevented by the use of protective eye wear to shield eyes from potential flying objects, fumes, dust, sparks or splashing chemicals. Protect your eyes and the eyes of your children with these simple reminders.
Be careful when opening bottles under pressure like a bottle of champagne, and avoid splashing while cooking with hot oils and other fluids.
Supervise children’s use of tools and toys. Pencils, scissors, knives, paperclips, bungee cords, wire hangers, rubber bands, fishhooks and small / flying toys can be dangerous. Teach children how to safely carry sharp objects, to never point flying toys at another person, and to never play with laser pointers!
And finally, always remember to protect your eyes from damaging UV rays by wearing broad-rimmed hats and/or sunglasses.
