A house RESOLUTION

 

to recognize and honor the critical work of Urgent Care Centers throughout the State and to declare May 2, 2024, as "Urgent Care Appreciation Day" in South Carolina.

 

Whereas, South Carolinians are served by two hundred seventeen urgent care clinics, located in thirty-six of the state's forty-six counties. Comprised of private, corporate, and hospital-owned clinics, the urgent care industry in South Carolina employs thousands and delivers convenient and compassionate care to hundreds of thousands of our family, friends, neighbors, and visitors; and

 

Whereas, serving as a crucial piece of the healthcare system, urgent care provides on-demand medical care for non-life-threatening, yet acute, medical needs. Urgent care offers convenient and affordable care when primary care is often not available; and

 

Whereas, almost all urgent care clinics have some degree of X-ray and laboratory capability. Seventy-six percent of our state's urgent cares are open seven days a week and, on average, provide nearly three thousand seven hundred hours of service per year. This equates to eight hundred thousand hours of patient access every year; and

 

Whereas, urgent care stepped up to play a vital role during the COVID-19 pandemic. When primary care and specialty clinics had to close their doors and emergency departments were overwhelmed with the sickest patients, urgent care rose to the occasion, administering innumerable COVID-19 tests, caring for patients in need, and decompressing emergency departments and hospital systems, thereby preventing the collapse of the state's healthcare system. All South Carolinians are indebted to the important work done by urgent care clinics then and now, every single day; and

 

Whereas, it is imperative that South Carolinians work together to address the challenges facing the urgent care industry in order to provide access to care, insurance and provider reimbursement, limited scope x-ray, and much more. Now, therefore,

 

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives:

 

That the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives, by this resolution, recognize and honor the critical work of urgent care centers throughout the State and declare May 2, 2024, as "Urgent Care Appreciation Day" in South Carolina.

 

Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to Dr. Patrick O'Malley.

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