Editor’s Note: This story has been revised from a previously published version.
Lake Quick Care, a walk-in clinic on North Third Street downtown, is rebranding itself as Lake Urgent Care.
Though the services offered at the clinic are not changing with the name, Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center, which owns the clinic, is trying to increase awareness among downtown residents about the accessibility and availability of the clinic.
“It is important for people who work or live downtown to have convenient access to health care,” says OLOL spokeswoman Kelly Zimmerman. “The education efforts around seeking the right care in the right setting are paying off, and we want patients to know they can receive care for common illnesses and minor injuries at a location that is convenient.”
The change is part of an overall community-wide outreach in the wake of the closure of Baton Rouge General Hospital’s Mid City emergency room. Though no facility has emerged to fill the gap created by the closure, OLOL has been trying to make patients aware of other primary care and urgent care clinics in the area that can treat them for illnesses and minor injuries
Since the ER closure in late March, OLOL has seen usage in the emergency department on its main campus on Essen Lane increase about 10%, or between 20 and 30 patients per day. Zimmerman did not have statistics about usage of the downtown clinic, which opened in 2013.
—Stephanie Riegel
