Where Should You Go for Flu Care? Family Practice vs. Urgent Care vs. ER

When the flu or COVID hits this winter season, deciding where to seek care can be confusing. Should you call your family doctor, head to urgent care or rush to the emergency room? Each option serves a different purpose and choosing the right one can save you time, money and stress.

Family Practice and your Valley View Primary Care Provider: The First Line of Defense

First things first: when the respiratory illness season arrives each fall and early winter, call your Valley View primary care provider and schedule a flu and COVID vaccine, says Shari Kiehnbaum, physician assistant at Roaring Fork Family Practice in Carbondale and Willits. Flu vaccines are available for those as young as 6 months of age and will not only decrease your risk of developing influenza but if you do become ill, the vaccine will decrease the risk of severe complications by as much as 50 percent.

If you have mild to moderate flu symptoms and feel like you want to be seen for personalized treatment, your Valley View primary care provider is a great first step. Not only will you see someone who knows your medical history, but they can help patients manage symptoms like fever, cough and fatigue. They can also prescribe antivirals like Tamiflu for higher risk individuals and monitor recovery long term.

Urgent Care: Quick, Convenient Relief

What happens if you don’t have a primary care doctor, or your primary doctor’s office isn’t open at night or during weekends? Valley View Urgent Care in Glenwood Springs provides walk-in access with shorter wait times and lower costs than the emergency department. Urgent Care providers can administer flu tests, write prescriptions and connect local patients with primary care providers in their communities, if needed.

“If patients are concerned, they may have an upper respiratory infection like flu or COVID then they can choose to be seen in urgent care,” says Dr. Foster Goss, emergency physician and Chief Medical Information Officer (CMIO) at Valley View. “For many people who don’t have a medial home or primary care physician, are elderly or have very young children they are worried about, this can be really important option for quick care.”

Emergency Room: For Severe or Life-Threatening Cases

If a patient is experiencing serious complications such as chest pain, shortness of breath, confusion or dehydration or if they are high-risk patients with other chronic medical conditions, Valley View’s Emergency Department is equipped with advanced diagnostics and life-saving interventions for critical cases with priority given to those with severe, life-threatening symptoms.

Prevention is Key

While Valley View’s primary care practices, urgent care and emergency department are all great options, both Dr. Goss and Shari Kiehnbaum agree, prevention is key: wash your hands frequently and vigorously, get consistent sleep, eat healthy foods, hydrate and get your flu and COVID vaccines now to stay healthy this winter.