Urgent Care

My two-​star review is based on three visits there. The first two visits were fine, although the doctor checked to see if my toe was broken by having me walk ON my toes. He said, «See, if it was broken, you would have been in excruciating pain.» Um. Thank you. The second visit, for bronchitis, was quite good. The staff was friendly and the doctor actually seemed to listen to me. Both of these visits were with a male doctor.
Since I’d had two decent experiences here, I went back last night, worried that I might have suffered a concussion earlier in the day. The receptionist was perfectly friendly, although they had no record of my medical history or previous visits (which were less than a year ago) – and they did not ask me to fill out my medical history. They didn’t even ask me why I was there until the male nurse started taking my blood pressure. And that’s where it all went downhill.
First off, I’ve had my blood pressure checked many times before. It’s always a bit uncomfortable, but it’s usually over in, maybe, 30 seconds or so. Well, this guy hooked me up to a machine, which proceeded to squeeze my arm tighter than it’s ever been squeezed. Talk about excruciating pain. This was so painful I could barely breathe. And it went on and on and on. So, of course, that’s precisely when the nurse chose to ask why I was there. The blood pressure sleeve’s death grip made it hard to focus, but I told him that I was worried that I might have had a concussion earlier in the day. He didn’t say anything (I don’t think he understood my English, actually), then asked me the same question again. I told him the blood pressure machine was really incredibly painful – and asked if it would be done soon. He ignored this and repeated, «So, what is your problem, I asked you?’» I said, «Yes, it’s just hard to talk, with this gripping my arm so tightly. «He said, «Just ignore that. What’s wrong with you?»
When he finally took the death vice off, my arm was bright red and sore (and it’s still tender today, 15 hours later). As I massaged my assaulted arm, I told him about how, as I was babysitting yesterday morning, the plastic jungle gym (which I was sitting underneath) collapsed on my head when the boy I babysit for jumped on it. It was a quick, painful blow. After that, I felt sort of «fuzzy» and – after a few hours – I developed a headache.
Then, the doctor (a woman with relatively dark skin, with an accent – possibly Middle Eastern) entered the room. She did not say hello or introduce herself. I finally said «Hi,» forcing her to grudgingly say it back. She said, «What’s the problem?» The nurse responded by saying, «She has a headache.» Since he didn’t elaborate – and I didn’t want to look like an idiot who visits a doctor every time she gets a headache – I said, «Well, I’m actually worried that I might have had a concussion earlier. I…» But the doctor cut me off, saying, «Why would you say that? Why are you ‘self-​diagnosing?’» Taken aback, I said, «OK, well, maybe if I explained what happened…» So, I started to tell the doctor the same story I told the nurse (since he obviously wasn’t going to share it). I got as far as: «While I was babysitting…» Then the doctor cut me off again, saying, «Hold on. Hold on. Just hold on. When was this?» I said, «Oh, this morning.» She said, «This morning? Then why are you coming in now (at 7:30 pm)? Why would you wait? Why would you do that?» (This was especially rich, since she hadn’t even allowed me to tell her WHAT happened that morning. And, if I wasn’t allowed to «self-​diagnose» that it might be a concussion, then why would I have thought it necessary to see a doctor right after the incident?).
I said, «Forget it. Just forget it. I’m not going to sit here and take this. This is ridiculous. I’m leaving.» I got up, grabbed my purse, and opened the curtain. I think one or both of them said something, to try to convince me how unreasonable I was being, but I blurted out, «No, I don’t like either one of you, and there’s no way I’m going to stay here and subject myself to your complete and utter rudeness.» I stormed out. When I got to the receptionist’s desk, I told her, «I don’t like that doctor. All she did was criticize me. I’m leaving, and I’m not paying. Thank you.» She looked a little surprised but said, «OK.» So I left. And I ain’t going back as long as that woman doctor works there! It’s too bad, because they are the ONLY urgent care clinic open past 8 pm in Chicago – and aside from her (the male nurse also needs to learn better bedside manners and English – but he wasn’t horrible), they are decent.
My advice: call ahead and ask who the doctor on duty is. If it’s a woman (sorry – don’t know her name), DO NOT GO THERE. Seriously. Don’t subject yourself to her attempts to belittle you for 1.) being knowledgeable about your ailments and 2.) NOT being knowledgeable enough about them. No one needs that, especially if you aren’t feeling well.
OK: her name was Dr. Ateinza. Avoid her!!!

It’s early Saturday morning and my friend and I are at the clinic because she sliced her finger down to the meat with one of those industrial strength vegetable slicers.
Thankfully, the place was fairly empty — I can’t imagine having to wait even longer than we did for attention… granted we probably were seen much quicker at the clinic than in an ER, but it was still a very long wait.
The staff was very kind, and accommodating. They turned on cartoons for her 5 year old, and helped us fill out the paperwork.
Yes, the real doctor took forever to see us, and, yes, they seemed unprepared in terms of resources and experienced personnel to handle her deep cut, but what matters is the real doctor did finally make his way over, Maria, the HR lady was very talkative and friendly which helped my friend take her mind of her bleeding finger, and thank-​God the doctor and one of the medical technicians spoke Spanish! He stitched up her finger in no time, gave her prescriptions and sent us on our way with general care instructions until her check-​up.
Maria was very kind to make sure that we were set up appropriately before we left. Overall, I would probably go back to this clinic. It’s close to my house, you don’t need an appointment, they were clean, kind, poor people friendly, and were open on a Saturday.

If you want to pay money to diagnose yourself, I highly recommend Peterson Urgent Care.
I had developed a full body, sunburn like rash and a few days later a horridly painful and pussy throat. I’ve never had a rash before in my life so clearly I was concerned! When referred to Peterson’s Urgent Care by the minute clinic at the CVS on Southport, where the gal looked at my rash and said «Whoa. I’m sorry but I have to refer you out immediately. The doctor at the urgent care firstly looked at my throat, winced and said, «Oh yes that’s definitely strep throat» and wrote me a prescription. Easy shmeasy
Then I showed him my rash.
His response: «Whoa. I don’t know about that. Weird». I said, «Really? That’s all ya got?» and he said, «It’s probably allergic. If it gets worse go to the ER». I said, «but it doesn’t itch. If it was an allergic rash it would itch.» He said, «You’re right. weird.» and left the room.
So I went home and Googled «strep full body rash». Scarlet fever was the first thing to pop up and fit my symptoms to a TEE, including the final stage of healing when my fingertips started peeling. Crazy! Up until the day I started the antibiotics, I was getting progressively worse. By the end of the first day taking the antibiotics, I was getting noticeably better. Clearly bacterial and clearly scarlet fever (related to strep).
Then another doc calls me FOUR DAYS AFTER TAKING THE STREP CULTURE to tell me that the strep test came back negative and that everything must be viral. I said, «Well your guy must have done it wrong because the antibiotics worked and they don’t work on viruses and if it’s not strep then how can you explain my very precise scarlet symptoms?» She said, «Nope, has to be viral.» I said, «Aren’t you interested to know how that could be possible?» She said, «So you can come in tomorrow to get your paperwork if you want». I said «OK, so you don’t care then. Gotcha. Have a fabulous day.» and hung up the phone.
They just didn’t care, but they did give me antibiotics which did help (even though they say they shouldn’t have). This is the only reason i gave them any stars at all.

I was very impressed by the staff at this Urgent Care — they were friendly, professional and helpful.

So, this week I fell down some stairs at one of my students’ house and hurt my ankle pretty badly. I feared it may be broken, but I really REALLY did not want to go to the ER. So, I turned to Unilocal.My requirements were fairly simple: an urgent care facility that is near my house. And that is how I ended up at Urgent Care on Peterson.
It was certainly a welcome alternative to the Emergency Room, and I’d probably go back if I had a similar injury or to get antibiotics for a sinus infection or something. It was quite clear that they were more accustomed to dealing with non-​native English speaking patients, as the doctor spoke rather broken English as did most of the staff. The girl at the front desk eyed me suspiciously, looking annoyed as she sneered «do you have insurance?» Yes, yes. I may be a poor freelance musician but I have insurance. Specifically for these types of situations.
There were no other patients waiting, so I was seen immediately, which was nice. The doc did a thorough exam, not just the ankle, which I appreciated. I could have done without the numerous questions about my menstrual cycle and possibilities of being pregnant, but I understand they have to do their job. The doc sent me downstairs for an x-​ray, which was done swiftly and I was on my way back upstairs with the slides in less than 20 mins. No fracture, thank goodness, just a bad sprain. The doc said they would send it out to a radiologist just to be sure, but he didn’t see anything immediately out of place. They gave me an air cast and offered crutches, which I refused, and I was on my way.
For a total cost of my $ 35 co-​pay and a total time of about an hour and a half, I was reassured that I did not, in fact, have a broken ankle. Had I gone to the ER it would have surely taken atleast four hours and cost a LOT more. This place takes all PPOs (no HMOs or Public Aid), it’s clean, and there is plenty of parking in lots next door.

I wounded my arm when a decorative plate sprang off the wall and shattered into a dozen large pieces, one of which shot deep into my elbow. Ouch! It was time to get the arm sewn up, so I called the insurance co. and was referred to Peterson Urgent Care.
For that first visit, the waiting room was empty except for me. I saw Dr. DelMundo, who was kind, anesthetized my arm, gave me four stitches, and told me to keep my wound clean and come back in 10 days to get the stitches out (no appointment needed). I was in and out of the clinic in 20 minutes, which I was amazed by. Very good experience overall.
Today’s visit to get the stitches out was another story. Remembering that the Urgent Care had Saturday hours, I called their phone. The recording identified it as «Diversey Urgent Care» and did not tell the hours it was open. I drove up around 9 a.m., to find they opened at noon. At 11:45, I went back. There were two other patients in the waiting room, one with some illness and the other needing stitches for a (minor) head wound. The doctor did not show up, and when the nurse called him his phone went to voicemail. He rolled in around 1:30, and then did a good job taking my stitches out.
My advice overall is to call ahead and make sure that a doctor is in, and confirm that the place is open, before visiting. Although this place claims you’ll avoid the long wait time of an ER, that statement is not always true.

This was kind of an odd experience for me. I just moved up to the city, so I don’t have a doctor in the area yet. I came down with something and did a google search for places in my area, and this was the first place that popped up so I gave them a try.
I didn’t have to wait very long, so that was a good thing. The staff was friendly, but something was definitely a little «off». First of all, ‘asthma’ was spelled correctly on the information sheet I had to fill out. Then the nurse (who is also the receptionist) couldn’t spell any of the medications I’m currently taking. It seemed a little odd, since this is, after all, a doctor’s office.
I didn’t wait very long to see a doctor. She was a very nice lady. I did find it odd when she asked me my horoscope sign and then started to read my fortune while she was listening to my lungs. She tried to prescribe me an antibiotic that I’m allergic to so I felt like she didn’t really read over my chart. All in all, not the most thorough doctor I’ve ever been to, but at least I eventually got the medicine I needed to get better.
I don’t think I’ll ever go here again, just because it was such an odd experience. The staff is very nice and I saw a doctor fast, but it just doesn’t seem like the most competent place.