{"id":9264,"date":"2019-03-25T13:48:56","date_gmt":"2019-03-25T17:48:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hagarty-on-wine.com\/OnWineBlog\/?p=9264"},"modified":"2019-03-25T13:48:56","modified_gmt":"2019-03-25T17:48:56","slug":"in-a-hurry-to-get-well","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hagarty-on-wine.com\/OnWineBlog\/in-a-hurry-to-get-well\/","title":{"rendered":"In a hurry to get well"},"content":{"rendered":"

Piedmont Urgent Care celebrates first anniversary<\/strong><\/p>\n

Back in 2004 Piedmont Family Practice in Warrenton spotted a trend. An increasing number of patients were looking for doctor appointments after hours and on weekends.<\/p>\n

Often these were younger people with no family physician and did not want to spend three or four hours in an emergency room seeking treatment for the flu or a sprained back.<\/p>\n

Like a moistened finger held high in the air trying to judge which way the breeze is blowing, this Warrenton medical practice \u201cfelt\u201d a trend and launched Family Docs on Call. They offered evening and weekend hours out of their existing offices. The patients came.<\/p>\n

On March 15, 2018, the service was rededicated into a separate section of its large medical building and named it Piedmont Urgent Care. It\u2019s opened from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week.<\/p>\n

The original concept of 14 years ago proved prescient. Today there are over 7,100 urgent care centers in the United States serving 160 million patients.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have three nurse practitioners down there with at least two working during the entire day,\u201d said Dr. Christopher Ward a primary care physician and a member of the practice. \u00a0\u201cDown there\u201d is one floor below the main practice but with a separate entrance and its own patient parking. It\u2019s located at 493 Blackwell Road, Suite 101B.<\/p>\n

\"\"Today up to forty patients daily are served with no need for an appointment. A typical visit lasts about 45 minutes but can extend to over an hour depending on treatment and workload. A lot faster than a typical ER visit.<\/p>\n

Ward, 49, is one of eight medical doctors and eight physician extenders at Piedmont Family Practice. \u201cPhysician extenders\u201d are professionals who can treat, order tests, and prescribe drugs. By any measure, 16 medical professionals are a large practice. Include the three additional staff at the urgent care center and you have what equates to a small hospital.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they are falling behind or have a difficult diagnosis, we can walk down one floor to provide needed assistance,\u201d said Ward.<\/p>\n

Ward is married to another physician, Dr. Amy Trace, who works with him giving new meaning the term \u201cfamily practice\u201d. \u201cWe were married right after medical school in Ohio and were looking for a region without the cold winter months of the north.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe visited Virginia and fell in love with Warrenton and joined this practice in 2001,\u201d he said. The couple has two daughters.<\/p>\n

Treatment and advice<\/strong>
\n<\/strong>Virtually any type of medical condition can walk through the door of an urgent care center. It\u2019s essentially designed to treat semi-urgent situations. If the problem can wait, patients are encouraged to see their own doctor if they have one.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are some things you don\u2019t want to wait on like a sinus infection, possible pneumonia, lacerations or strep throat. We are not set up to handle things like a heart attack, stroke or car accident. In those cases, a person should go directly to a hospital emergency room,\u201d Ward said.<\/p>\n

The patient demographic is broad but tends to slant toward a somewhat younger profile. \u201cMy guess is younger folks tend to not have a relationship with a doctor because they don\u2019t have many chronic health problems.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest factor is probably the convenience of being able to just walk in and get treated,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

But at the end of the day, the ultimate goal is to not have to visit a medical provider in the first place. How to achieve that? Listen to the good doctor\u2019s counsel:<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst, take care of the things you can take care of, for both your physical and mental health. Both are so important to the overall quality of life. You can\u2019t do anything about genetics and you can\u2019t do much about what you are exposed to like workplace stressors,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

What one can do is eat a healthy diet, avoid fast food, get regular exercise and cultivate healthy interpersonal relationships with both your family and friends. \u201cImproving the quality of life makes our intervention so much less necessary. Take care of yourself like you take care of the material things you own.\u201d<\/p>\n

Good stuff but we\u2019ve heard it all before. So, Ward drills down further. \u201cWe are a consumer-driven culture. Unfortunately, social media and cell phones have become ubiquitous in our lives. Our brains need to settle down and process things in a quieter meditative state.\u201d<\/p>\n

He recommends even simple outdoor walks as restorative. \u201cWe are surrounded by the constant pinging of digital devices it creates a stress factory. We never really get a chance to rest. That affects our immune system and raises stress hormone levels.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also believes the health care system itself needs some healing. \u201cWe are working toward a better model to keep people healthier for longer periods.\u201d<\/p>\n

The goals of both Piedmont Family Practice and Piedmont Urgent Care is to integrate with the community and enhance the health and wellbeing of Fauquier County residents and beyond.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are really trying to invest and become part of the community because most of us live here. We are raising our families here and we want to provide the same service that we want for our families.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ultimate message from Ward is that physicians and patients must work together to enhance lives. Shared responsibility will lead to a more joy-filled existence.<\/p>\n

For a full description of its services, visit Piedmont Urgent Care at https:\/\/www.piedmont-urgent-care.com\/<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Published in the <\/em>March 20, 2019 edition of the Fauquier Times.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Piedmont Urgent Care celebrates first anniversary Back in 2004 Piedmont Family Practice in Warrenton spotted a trend. An increasing number of patients were looking for doctor appointments after hours and on weekends. Often these were younger people with no family physician and did not want to spend three or four hours in an emergency room […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[5],"tags":[1018,1017],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n