Please join us in congratulating our CEO Michael A. McGee MD, MPH for winning American College of Emergency Physicians – ACEP’s 2021 Community Emergency Medicine Excellence Award!
Continue reading “Dr. McGee Wins ACEP 2021 Community Emergency Medicine Excellence Award!”
Everyone knows to see their primary care doctor if they have fever and a sore throat. That’s an easy call. How often you should visit your primary care physician is another matter. There is no set answer, nor timetable for everyone, but there are some guidelines.
Continue reading “How Often Should You Visit Your Primary Care Physician?”
The CDC recently published a press release stating that at the end of 2019 sexually transmitted diseases reached an all time high for the sixth consecutive year. More than 2.5 million cases were reported in 2019.
As STDs reach an all time high, learn how to prevent STDs.
Continue reading “STDs Reach All Time High: How To Prevent STDs”
Join us August 22nd from 10-4pm for Free COVID-19 Testing at our Urgent Care! Only have 200 tests available, so make sure you sign up to get your spot!
Pre-registration required. Fill out your pre-registration here: https://forms.gle/V6BCZz5X6mRgxxNZ9
When you arrive, please wear a mask or face covering.
Testing will be done in our parking lot.
If insured, please bring your insurance card.
One of the best ways to keep kids up, out, and active this summer is to encourage sports participation. Whether it involves organized team sports or a little informal one-on-one competition, sports are a great way to prevent kids from becoming couch potatoes. However, summer sports are not without risk. Here are several common sports injuries you might encounter during the summer months, as well as several tips and techniques to avoid visits to the doctor’s office.
The most common sports-related injuries in children (and adults) are sprains and strains. Sprains involve ligament damage and strains involve muscle damage. They each can range from very mild to severe. Sprained ankles can occur on the basketball court or while just running around the back yard. Proper footwear is a good start to help prevent ankle sprains, but sometimes they are inevitable. Imagine after a jumpshot you land on an opponent’s foot. You will likely injury your ankle. You or your child may be running full speed for a loose ball and feel an immediately pain in a muscle, such as the hamstring (posterior thigh). That would be a muscle strain. Dynamic stretching and having your body properly warmed up before strenuous exercise is a great way to prevent that. Rest, ice, compression, and elevation (RICE) is an excellent place to start with treating the injuries initially.
Some of these injuries are due to sudden movements and others due to repetitive movements. Tennis elbow and golfer’s elbow, lateral epicondylitis and medial epicondylitis, respectively are overuse injuries. The best way to prevent them is through proper technique and training methods. Once the injury occurs, it often requires rest, anti-inflammatories (ibuprofen or naproxen), and physical therapy exercises.
There is virtually no limit to the ways a child can fracture or break a bone with summer physical activities. Whether it’s from a trampoline, skateboarding, football, or a bicycle accident, these injuries can be serious if not treated appropriately.
Some fractures are obvious with an unnatural deformity, like an S-shaped curve in a child’s forearm. Others can be subtle and occur from overuse during sports when a child doesn’t give his/her body time to rest between games or activities. An example of that would be a stress fracture in a runner’s foot or gymnast’s lower back. The best ways to prevent fractures are to use protective equipment and get plenty of rest between exercises.
Children who play sports and are active during the summer also run the risk of eye injuries. A thrown ball can strike a child in the face, and debris can get into the eyes when swimming.
You can prevent eye injuries with protective wear, such as goggles. If your child has an eye injury, you should take him/her to an emergency room or urgent care center as soon as possible for an immediate exam. In rare cases, some eye injuries can have long-lasting effects and threaten a child’s vision.
When the temperature rises, it becomes much more dangerous for young bodies to exert themselves when not properly hydrated. Dehydration increases the likelihood of muscle cramps and other overuse injuries.
The simple solution is to avoid soda and caffeine, and drink plenty of water before, during, and after heavy physical activity.
Head injuries can be serious and, thankfully, they are not as common as some of the other summer sports injuries listed here. But, they do happen and can result from any contact sport – hockey, football, or soccer.
You can prevent these injuries by requiring that your child wear a helmet to participate in these sports. If there is a possibility of concussion, such as headache, fogginess, or memory difficulty after head trauma, be sure to seek immediate medical attention.
If you do run into trouble this summer, you will not have to deal with it on your own. Premier Urgent Care has convenient office hours and is available to see you and/or your child whether you have an appointment or not. We’re located in the Hyde Park/Kenwood area and offer free parking for our patients.
Visit https://premierucchicago.com to learn more about different types of health facilities, such as urgent care clinics, to help you decide which facility can best treat your condition at the appropriate time and with the right resources.
Learn why patients have come to trust Premier Urgent Care.
Soon your children will be home for the summer. They will be playing outside and (inevitably) injuring themselves. There are many common summer injuries for kids, but the question many parents ask is, “What should I do if they happen?”
Some injuries aren’t serious and can be treated at home, but others require the attention of a medical professional. Here are a few common summer injuries for kids and tips for helping them stay safe.
It’s nice outside and the kids want to bounce. They love the trampoline, but it can be dangerous if they are not careful.
A few tips to keep your children safe on trampolines:
If you are unsure a trampoline is safe for your child, it may be best to keep them away or consult your child’s physician for more information.
Most kids love to help mow the lawn or ride the mower for fun, but this can be dangerous if they are not properly supervised. To protect your children from injuries, it is important to keep these ideas in mind:
This is not an exhaustive list by any means but just some common contributors to mower injuries.
Children love to visit playgrounds and parks in the summer. There are slides and jungle gyms and myriad fun objects to climb on, swing from, and play with to and keep kids entertained. But what about the hazards of a playground?
Keep your children safe with these rules for playground safety:
Many things can happen to a child at the playground. It is important to think about safety with your children, with regard to their clothing and play habits.
Kids will be kids and they will find ways to hurt themselves that few can predict. However, it is important to follow safety practices no matter where you are or what your child is doing. Following the tips above steps will help prevent many potential injuries to your children.
Helmets should be mandatory and pads are strongly recommended when riding a bike, skateboard, or scooter. Water safety should not be ignored but is a separate topic that requires its own list of tips. Dangers seem to be lurking at every turn. It is impossible to prevent all injuries but some simple precautions can significantly help reduce the chances.
Learn why patients have come to trust Premier Urgent Care.
April 8-12 was National Youth Violence Prevention Week, and perhaps no other Hyde Park organization puts on a celebration quite like Project Outreach and Prevention (P.O.P) on Youth Violence.
That week, a series of rallies designed to get area youth up, out, and thinking about ways to prevent youth violence, took place throughout Chicagoland. Teens from all walks of life were given the opportunity to get together to hear from area role models. They were able to strategize about violence prevention and break some stereotypes—all while having fun along the way.
The P.O.P. rally was the brainchild of the organization’s co-founder, Dr. Michael A. McGee. Together with P.O.P.’s other co-founder, Dr. Reuben Rutland and business partner Dr. Airron Richardson (the trio owns Premier Urgent Care and Occupational Health Center), Dr. McGee developed this project for a couple of reasons. He wanted to show Chicago kids more examples of positive role models and teach them some skills they can take back to their schools to help with youth violence prevention. Premier Urgent Care funded this project solely and provided hundreds of students with the opportunity to speak out about youth violence. The CSO Sports Multiplex hosted the event in its space, adjacent to the Premier Urgent Care Center located at 1301 East 47th Street in Hyde Park. The CSO Sports Multiplex and the medical center where Premier Urgent Care is located was created by former Chicago Bears wide receiver and practicing orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Gregory Primus. The medical center is home to physicians practicing a variety of specialties that include orthopedics, podiatry, pain management, chiropractic medicine, and gastroenterology (GI).
The event tied in perfectly with last week’s National Youth Violence Prevention Week (NYVPW), a campaign designed by the national organization – Students Against Violence Everywhere (SAVE) – to provide education and intervention to youth affected by all types of violence, including gun violence. The P.O.P. program has proved to be an ideal organization embodying the values of NYVPW and starting SAVE chapters in high schools across the region.
P.O.P. has been reaching out to Chicago and Northwest Indiana youth with its dual message of change through mentorship and youth violence prevention since 2015, when it became a 501(c)(3) incorporated nonprofit organization. P.O.P. started the Health Professions Enrichment Program (HPEP), which pairs students with mentors in the health industry and strives to provide career insight, study advice, and a head start on a productive, fulfilling career for at-risk youth.
To learn more visit: NWIPOP.ORG or by phone 219-798-0744. The organization is actively working to create solutions for the problems facing our communities.
“Not One More Life, One More Day”
We are proud to announce the launch of our new website.
